#: 9637 S7/Telecommunications 27-Feb-91 22:27:19 Sb: #tsrun/tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: 76625,2273 (X) Bruce, I'm trying to get your tsrun/tsmon package to work on my system. My config is as follows: 512K Coco B&B Hard Disk SACIA driver (multipak version) RS232 pak on slot 1 I have set up the following init file called init.t2 in /dd/sys: ATZ ATM0Q0V1X1&D2&C1S0=2E0 Unsupported baud rate on this phone line. "CONNECT 2400":04 "CONNECT 1200":03 "CONNECT":01 When I call the programs like so: tsrun tsmon /t2 /dd/sys/init.t2 & the system crashes with horizontal lines flashing on the screen upon access to the disk. If I run just "tsmon /t2 /dd/sys/init/t2 &", the modem is initialized just fine. Do I need to do any special xmode to /t2 or set the modem kill bit? If so, could you tell me how? Hugo 71211,3662 Delphi: MRGOOD There is 1 Reply. #: 9663 S7/Telecommunications 02-Mar-91 17:51:24 Sb: #9637-#tsrun/tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Hugo, I've tried tsrun, and it doesn't crash my system. I don't know what is wrong, but I'll get back to you if I figure it out. If possible, don't use tsrun... it is only really useful if you have set the "modem kill bit" (see xmode in your OS-9 manual) anyway. Bruce There is 1 Reply. #: 9667 S7/Telecommunications 03-Mar-91 08:17:08 Sb: #9663-#tsrun/tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) Just for the sake of science, could you give me an xmode of your /t2? By the way, when I use your xmode on window devices, it doesn't work. (i.e., window parameters not shown, and cannot be changed). Is this correct? Finally, could you explain swapped DSR DCD? Why would I implement it, what is it supposed to do? How do I do it? (Sorry for all the questions!) Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9677 S7/Telecommunications 03-Mar-91 21:25:36 Sb: #9667-#tsrun/tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) ~ Hugo, OK, here's an XMODE listing of my /T3 port (I don't have a /T2 port in memory): nam=T3 mgr=SCF ddr=DACIA hpn=07 hpa=FF60 upc=00 bso=01 dlo=00 eko=01 alf=01 nul=00 pau=00 pag=18 bsp=08 del=18 eor=0D eof=1B rpr=09 dup=19 psc=17 int=03 qut=05 bse=08 ovf=07 par=02 bau=06 xon=11 xof=13 col=50 row=18 xtp=45 wnd=45 val= sty= cpx= cpy= fgc= bgc= bdc= It sounds like you're referring to the "wnd= val= sty= ..." stuff near the end of the XMODE listing of a window descriptor. As you will see in the following listing, they can be changed, but only if the window descriptor's option table size includes them. Get my "WINVDG.AR" package if you want window descriptors that are already set up that way, or you can modify your own window descriptors by changing the byte at offset $0011 to $24. nam=W1 mgr=SCF ddr=CC3IO hpn=07 hpa=FFA1 upc=00 bso=00 dlo=00 eko=01 alf=01 nul=00 pau=00 pag=18 bsp=08 del=18 eor=0D eof=1B rpr=09 dup=19 psc=17 int=03 qut=05 bse=08 ovf=07 par=80 bau=00 xon=00 xof=00 col=50 row=18 xtp=01 wnd=01 val=01 sty=02 cpx=00 cpy=00 fgc=00 bgc=01 bdc=02 Finally, swapped DSR+DCD is useful if you want your 6551 ACIA based serial port to be able to receive characters even when DCD is not valid. This is of most interest to BBS SysOps, who want their BBS to be able to recognize when a caller hangs up (DCD would go from valid to invalid) and reset itself, rather than going through the hassle of the modem kill bit killing their BBS program and then having to use a program like TSRUN to restart the whole thing. The easiest way to implement it is to simply swap the two lines on your serial cable and then set the appropriate bit in the XTP byte. And don't worry about the questions, there hasn't been too much mail for me here lately, so this is a nice change! Bruce There are 2 Replies. #: 9680 S7/Telecommunications 04-Mar-91 19:39:28 Sb: #9677-tsrun/tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) OK, I'll read your response offline. Ah, so swapping involves some actual wire crossing, YUCK! By the way, what would that do to telecom programs? Could I still call out? I've been having nothing but frustration with your tsmon :-(. I've had a friend calling in for testing, and tsmon never seems to recognize when he presses ENTER. I tried the Developer's pak tsmon, and it worked fine. The only problem is when people hangup unexpectedly, which is something I'd like to protect against! I'll upload a summary of my efforts in another message. Hugo #: 9681 S7/Telecommunications 04-Mar-91 19:59:54 Sb: #9677-#tsrun/tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) Bruce, As I said, I've had problems with your tsmon/tsrun combo. Anyway, here's the init file that I send to the modem via the tsmon command line: TSMON /t2 /dd/sys/init.t2 & ATZ ATM0Q0V0X1&D2&C1S0=2E0S25=100 Unsupported baud rate on this phone line. "CONNECT 2400":04 "10":04 "CONNECT 1200":03 "5":03 Is there anything obviously wrong with it? When a caller calls, the modem answers, carrier detect gets established but pressing return (I can see the RD light flashing) yields nothing except a series of dots (SOMETIMES). Here is an xmode of /t2 as I have it set up when I run TSMON: nam=T2 mgr=SCF ddr=SACIA hpn=07 hpa=FF68 upc=00 bso=01 dlo=00 eko=01 alf=01 nul=00 pau=00 pag=00 bsp=08 del=18 eor=0D eof=1B rpr=09 dup=19 psc=17 int=03 qut=05 bse=08 ovf=07 par=0C bau=04 xon=11 xof=13 col=50 row=18 xtp=05 wnd=05 val= sty= cpx= cpy= fgc= bgc= bdc= Anything visibly wrong? When I run the stock developer's pak tsmon, everything works peachy, except if a caller hangs up without typing "ex", things get messy. What possible difference can there be between the two where the stock TSMON sees the CR and your TSMON doesn't???? I'm pulling my hair out on this one. I wonder if it's a problem of your tsmon never getting the CONNECT string and running at the wrong baud rate??? HELP HELP HELP SOS! Hugo Bueno CIS:71211,3662 Delphi: MRGOOD There is 1 Reply. #: 9707 S7/Telecommunications 06-Mar-91 22:14:45 Sb: #9681-tsrun/tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) ~ Hugo, I'm afraid I don't know what is wrong, but I can pass along a couple ideas that others have given to me when they had solved their tsmon/modem problems. The first is from Rich Mailer, who found that his "Zoom" type modem hung up too quickly when DTR dropped momentarily. What happened was someone called in, the modem connected, and then hung up on the caller. The solution was to increase the amount of time allowed before a DTR interruption causes the modem to hang up. Sorry, but I can't remember exactly which S register controls that... and I can't find an equivalent S register in my modem manual. The other thing is related to exactly when the modem sets DCD enabled. On my modem, the CONNECT message comes in first, and then after that the DCD line is enabled. If your modem does this then you'll have to do the DSR+DCD swap to get it to work with a 6551 ACIA. Check your modem manual for info regarding the DCD signal, you may be able to set it so DCD is enabled before the modem sends result codes and CONNECT messages. You can check if DCD is enabled too late by getting someone to call in at the default baud rate, and then manually typing in the CONNECT message after the modems have connected. Remember, when my TSMON is given an "init" file parameter it doesn't respond to just a CR, unless there's a line in the init file that has a CR connect message in it. You could do this with a file editor such as dEd, BTW. I can't see anything wrong with the sample "init" files you've posted. As a matter of fact, I used the first one you posted in a test and had no problems with it. Bruce #: 9639 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 28-Feb-91 16:31:26 Sb: #9625-#Write IBM Disks? Fm: JIM HICKLE 76672,602 To: Bill Henderson 72215,341 (X) Bill, somewhere, (here or Delphi) is an IPATCH for cc3disk, if you don't have Sdisk. PCDos transfers great, but I can't figure out hou to format a pcdos disk. -jim There is 1 Reply. #: 9658 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 19:03:06 Sb: #9639-Write IBM Disks? Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752 To: JIM HICKLE 76672,602 For formatting a PC-DOS diskette, there's a couple of utilities in the commercial arena. As I recall D.P. Johnson (author of SDISK3) has or had some OS-9 Utilities that formatted a PC-DOS diskette. Also, I think that Clearbrook Software Group has some similar utilities. Lee #: 9640 S1/General Interest 28-Feb-91 22:59:31 Sb: #clibt.ar library Fm: Bernie 74076,1215 To: all HELP! Some time ago I downloaded a file named clibt.ar, which contained relocatable library code and documentation for additional "C" library routines. The routines included trig functions, time functions, getopt(), and various other goodies. Due to a disk problem, I can no longer read the AR file and have therefore lost the doco. Can anyone tell me where I can find the original file (or documentation for it) that I can download? There are 2 Replies. #: 9649 S1/General Interest 01-Mar-91 07:39:13 Sb: #9640-clibt.ar library Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 To: Bernie 74076,1215 Bernie, As mentioned over in COCO, it's LIB 3 ... and should be close to the top. Whatcha got going? Steve #: 9650 S1/General Interest 01-Mar-91 08:47:29 Sb: #9640-clibt.ar library Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Bernie 74076,1215 Bernie - That should be here in DL3. Pete #: 9641 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 28-Feb-91 23:36:11 Sb: #9363-#OS9 to MSDOS Fm: Ralph Fehringer 76200,1045 To: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 (X) Does anyone know of an OS-9 program that will format msdos floppies (I have tried Marty's RS-DOS utility and can't get pcdos to read them. There are 2 Replies. #: 9651 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 08:48:30 Sb: #9641-OS9 to MSDOS Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Ralph Fehringer 76200,1045 (X) Ralph - I don't know of any functional PC/MSDOS floppy formatters for the coco. Pete #: 9657 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 18:51:25 Sb: #9641-OS9 to MSDOS Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752 To: Ralph Fehringer 76200,1045 (X) I think the D.P. Johnson (company) had some cross-system utilities. Seems like I remember, too, that Clearbrook Software Group use to have PC-DOS formatter that ran under OS-9. Lee #: 9642 S7/Telecommunications 28-Feb-91 23:53:00 Sb: #9568-Sterm 1.3 bug found Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 (X) Wow! Uploads are free - wonder what CIS thinks of that! *-) I use a Courier 9600 HST (real USRobotics but before they upgraded 'em to 14.4k & 19.2k). It "defaults" with MNP5 & ARQ mode on CIS and Delphi both, but with B+ and QB I'm getting 75% thruput as well (local DTE set to 4800 even tho the line & CIS runs at 2400). Compression on top of AR'd files are not suppose to be that good according to the USR book! Might want to do some research into the Acia drivers being used cuz I'm using something like 2100 bytes each for send & receive buffering (read my ACPDS7.TXT article for more info on that - still waiting on how to program the undocumented Stat calls!). -- Thx, Paul Seniura (76476,464) #: 9643 S7/Telecommunications 28-Feb-91 23:55:46 Sb: #9569-Sterm 1.3 bug found Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Mark Griffith 76070,41 (X) Thanks Mark! It's "the" only thing to use on CIS here! (Kinda wish Delphi would ask around for ideas on improving their d/l support, but then again their 20/20 package cannot be beat no matter how slow their I/O gets!) -- Thx again, Paul Seniura (76476,464). #: 9644 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 00:00:38 Sb: #9566-speed-up kit for CoCo3? Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) Ooops ... sorry ... I wasn't sure so that's why I said "I thought" it were U. I see I'm getting Bobs mixed up. And now I remember Mr. Puppo was the one who invented the PC-AT interface for "us". Sorry about that, y'all. I know what you say about hardware mods, and that's probably why they don't sell too well. I myself, however, will do anything to oooch more zip into this tired machine, cuz I can't even begin to find any way this year whatsoever to buy them 68k models coming out (as I said earlier here!). Thx for getting me straight there ... -- Paul Seniura (76476,464). #: 9645 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 00:19:20 Sb: #9599-Level 2 upgrade? Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Ok I see that the Grfdrv article is not here - I guess back then I only had an account on GEnie - I'll get it up by the weekend then. It was sparked by the 25-line text zap found in SuperComm's docs and all due respects paid therein. I've had a few gripes about my copyrighting these articles - well the record shows on Delphi that way too many things are plagerized and the patches are never recorded in the database themselves, which makes other users ask the very same questions every time the subject comes up around the world. (Well here on CIS, too, it's that way but more organized. :-) So to stop the abuse, I wrote up everything we had, did all my own research (again credit is "paid" where it was due - I do own all of y'all's books, not a photocopied one!), thought up how to get those other modes working (yep a rewrite was needed) and I spit the article out in hopes y'all would read it before the upgrades were finalized - 1.5 years ago! So that's why I do them seemingly legal-sleeze things. If I mention something as specific as "I hope the authors of the L-II upgrade will read this", well that's kinda giving y'all the authority to use it right then & there - or so I thought! :-) As for the stat calls - the ACPDS7.TXT file mushes thru what we've been able to accomplish so far with our Acia driver - I have been told by Ron Bihler that Bill Brady will let us share it now. I'm still waiting for the responses cuz what we still need help on is already explained in that article (CIS and Delphi both have it). Again it's 'd cuz of the willful plagerizing that goes on and I need to keep track of what we are all talking about when the help (e.g. you & whomever) does come. In order to support this driver, there is a customization pgm to set the size of the send & recv buffers (separately). It is *known* to cure all RiBBS ills, the y-reg problem with C-language pgms, and the like, plus I can pretty darn well keep up with 9600 uncompressed I/O so long as the host pauses at a full screen. It still won't do 1k Xmodem #: 9646 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 01-Mar-91 00:28:20 Sb: #9599-Level 2 upgrade? Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) uh got cut off ... This ACPDS7.TXT file might shed some light on the subjects we're needing help on. Might show something "hidden" that messes up our 1k Xmodem at 9600. I actually stated in it that maybe there's a long-term timing problem between the Acia & modem at 9600 or greater speeds, otherwise I dunno why 1k Xmodem can't keep up while a whole 1920-byte 80x24 text screen will look perfect. I do have the L-I docs that R.S. sold way back then, around when 1.1.0 was available. Got the 2.0.0 docs also (they actually had my name on the mailing list, kin U beleev?!). So the ACPDS7.TXT shows what we're after and where we've already been. This time around, if the cost of an upgrade for L-II becomes such that the manuals get editted, please consider an "optional" set of manuals for the people who'd need the "complete" docs on everything. Even big blue sells their software/manuals that way: most users simply don't need a Diagnostics book or example! - that's for the systems pgmrs! -- Thx, Paul Seniura (76476,464). #: 9647 S15/Hot Topics 01-Mar-91 00:45:06 Sb: #9601-High Sierra CDROM fmts Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Our local PBS station just broadcasted this week's "Computer Chronicles" and the subject was CDROMs! The companies are finally sending the same CD for both PCs and Macs with the machine accessing the appropriate application pgms. So one hopes those of us who want to hook a drive up, can call or write the software co. to get the poop on their database formats (as opposed to the ISO sector & directory formats which *should* be standard, and OS9 would need the file mgr for). I called our local CDROM expert - my goodness he didn't want "us" to be able to read these critters. He even went so far to wonder whether what we're wanting to do is a copyright violation. I said - Listen, if I go down there to plunk down $895.00 for Compton's Encyclopedia, is THAT a legal copy OR WHAT? So ... y'all see the flack I'm getting ... bunch of crap if you ask me ... this might embroil me enough to do some serious letter writing to those govmt agencies that handle this kind of stuff, from anti-trust to freedom of information in the case of those NASA CDs being shared (and Library of Congress etc.). Wonder if the Supreme Court would want to decide whether an "empire" like CDROM is turning out to be, if it's unruly to force people to buy particular kinds of computers instead of providing the format in order to access a legally-bought CD's information. IBM publishes their standards! You can find out how RFT documents work and any company can write their pgms to support that format (an idea I was hoping would encroach on the people who write OS9 word processors). It might be that Compton's, for example, *does* share its database formats with those who've bought the CD, and how to uncompress the pictures & animation. That'd be okay! Well I babbled on long enough - thx for helping & listening! -- Paul S. #: 9648 S4/MIDI and Music 01-Mar-91 00:50:32 Sb: #9602-#MIDI File code Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thank you & Tim both! Yes we will share his stuff for free - never intended to do otherwise (didn't I make it clear? sorry if not). Want to make sure Mike Knudsen & others get his sources at least, for the obvious reasons! Did Tim want to talk in person or write/email him somehow? If so let me know and I'll do what we need to do. Btw also let me know if the phone tolls need to be reimbursed! -- Thx, Paul Seniura (76476,464). There is 1 Reply. #: 9652 S4/MIDI and Music 01-Mar-91 08:51:20 Sb: #9648-MIDI File code Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X) Nope... no further comms are required, and the Internet bore the expense. Just go ahead with the coding.. and good luck. Pete #: 9653 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 01-Mar-91 13:53:06 Sb: Cheap Tandy Equipment Fm: Randy Moore 76672,1700 To: Everyone I have some equipment that MUST GO SOON! My fiancee says she is tired of looking at a closet full of computer stuff. On the block is a MODEL 1000 pc-compatible with 20 meg hard drive, CGA monitor, 640k ram, internal clock/calendar, 1200 baud modem, and a joystick. Also, I have a CoCo 2 with Floppy drive, 'Smart' controller, Graphics, Speech, and Assembly cartridges. Oh, I almost forgot, there are two printers; a linePrinter V and a DMP110; both Radio Shack models. Here's the package deals: The model 1000 and both printers for $400. or The CoCo and both printers for $200. or All of the above for $500. If you want just some of these, let me know and we'll work something out. I have to get married on April 6 so you know I need the cash! Thanks, Randy Moore 76672,1700 #: 9654 S1/General Interest 01-Mar-91 16:13:57 Sb: #9397-OS9 to MSDOS Fm: Curtis Veit 76067,3225 To: Rodney Harper 75130,1321 (X) Hi, There is source for a utility to do this on UNIX systems in the UNIXFORUM here on Compuserve. It is called M-16 or MT16 I think (sorry about the fuzzy memory). I'd love to see someone port it to OS9 and OSK!!! (this is one of those projects I've thought of doing but haven't even had time to look at the code to see if it would be ugly... There are others here on the forum that seem to have lots of experience porting from Unix (any of you guys want to try your hand at this?) - Curtis ps. that source is probably in the utilities or tools section of the Unixforum. #: 9655 S1/General Interest 01-Mar-91 16:29:44 Sb: #9503-OS9 -> Mac Hard disk Fm: Curtis Veit 76067,3225 To: Steve Bliss 75716,117 This could be done a couple of ways. 1. write a clone of the mac file system for OS9 so your system can read the directories and files as they are. 2. Write a utility for both the Mac and OS9 to read and write using some arbitrary simple format (perhaps something already written would work, such as tar). You would need to set aside a partition on the hard disk for this shared area. (Yes the Mac can partition hard drives with third party software like silver lining, (from LaCie I think). This can be done by bit diddling on the hard disk IF ... 1. You have the info telling how? (I've seen it but I don't know where). 2. You are brave and like to risk all the data on your disk. 3. Write a utility to pass info from the Mac to OS9 directly over the SCSI port. (this is probably the easy choice (comparatively)). After choseing one of the above be sure to set up your SCSI IDs so they don't conflict (I believe the Mac is ID=7, not adjustable). The Mac hard disk is usually ID=1 and is adjustable directly on the drive if nowhere else. If you actually attempt this I'd love to hear about it. As you might guess from the above there might be alot of pitfalls along the road to any of these solutions. - Curtis [D/exit #: 9656 S6/Applications 01-Mar-91 18:38:51 Sb: #Unit Help Fm: JC Hoit 73127,2213 To: 76703,4230 (X) I just downloaded UNIT.AR. Seems it only wants to run under a VDG 32-column screen. However, the menus are set up for a larger screen. What's the deal here? There are 2 Replies. #: 9659 S6/Applications 01-Mar-91 21:30:54 Sb: #9656-#Unit Help Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: JC Hoit 73127,2213 (X) I doubt it's wired to a 32 character screen.... It was ported from Unix onto a Gimix 6809 system..... Why don't we start with some symptoms? Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 9684 S6/Applications 04-Mar-91 22:10:34 Sb: #9659-Unit Help Fm: JC Hoit 73127,2213 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) It definitely isn't wired for 32 column. It runs there but doesn't fit. I think Bob may have a handle on the problem (msg.#9676) and I am going to try his suggestion. The main symptom (as Bob mentioned) is that the screen just simply doesn't show up. If I press the proper keys in response to the program's menu, things happen but no characters ever show up. Thanks bunches, -John- #: 9676 S6/Applications 03-Mar-91 20:59:36 Sb: #9656-#Unit Help Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: JC Hoit 73127,2213 (X) I recall the same problem with UNIT a long time ago. As I recall was real simple to fix...the program has a string to clear the screen and the CoCo doesn't like it. Just change the string to a 0x0c and all should work fine. \ex post There is 1 Reply. #: 9685 S6/Applications 04-Mar-91 22:12:12 Sb: #9676-Unit Help Fm: JC Hoit 73127,2213 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 (X) I think you have something there! Will give it a try. Looks like a very useful program. -John- #: 9660 S5/OS9 Users Group 02-Mar-91 11:11:05 Sb: #9611-go.ar Fm: Ken Drexler 75126,3427 To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X) Thanks. Ken #: 9661 S5/OS9 Users Group 02-Mar-91 11:11:42 Sb: #9620-go.ar Fm: Ken Drexler 75126,3427 To: Mike Ward 76703,2013 (X) Thanks, Mike. I will go grab it. Ken #: 9662 S8/BBS Systems/TSMon 02-Mar-91 17:22:41 Sb: TSMON Fm: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 To: ALL Has anyone used the file "TZMON1.AR" from Lib 8. I de-arc'ed itand have it all on a system disk (level 2). Now I need to know HOW to use it :-) Is it the same as the TSMON on level 1? Also, how do I go about assigning passwords (if any)? Any help greatly appreciated! Thanx! Bob #: 9664 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 00:23:44 Sb: #Hires Joystick Interface Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: all I have encountered a couple of problems with both my hires joystick interface. Both of them seems to get "stuck" half of the time after starting up MV and can be freed if I use the keyboard mouse to get to CONTROL and get out again. I replaced the IC in both of them. One seems to be fixed for a few days and back to the same problem again. The other problem I encountered with one of them is that when the cursor reached about one inch from the right edge or the bottom edge of the screen it "jump" to the edge of the screen. There is nothing in between. I tried to fix the problem by replacing all the component on the board. Is there anybody out there with a service manual covering the part list of the hires interface? What is the value of C1. I replaced all the other components and the problem presists. Thank for any help. Nam There is 1 Reply. #: 9665 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 02:18:11 Sb: #9664-#Hires Joystick Interface Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: NAM PUI 73347,3324 (X) Nam - define "stuck". Does it just stay in one place? Or only move half way across the screen? Or? Added any other hardware lately? Cleaned off the GIME, too? best - kev There are 3 Replies. #: 9666 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 05:58:23 Sb: #9665-#Hires Joystick Interface Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) I think I've seen the behavior Nam Pui describes. There's a strip down the right hand side of the screen such that if you enter it, the mouse cursor is immediately dragged over to the far right side of the screen, making it almost impossible to position the mouse within that strip. The problem I've more recently had is jittery mouse, with the mouse cursor jumping back and forth even when the mouse is stationary. What this probably *really* means is it's time to seriously look at smouse.ar. There are 2 Replies. #: 9668 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 08:20:40 Sb: #9666-#Hires Joystick Interface Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) Hey James, I also have a mouse that is very sensitive on the right edge of the screen. I can position it, but verrrry carefully. For your jumpy cursor, try moving the mouse cables around a little. I had the same thing and it turned out that my (extra long, homemade) cables from the hires adaptor to the coco were picking up some stray signals. There are 2 Replies. #: 9672 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 15:11:49 Sb: #9668-Hires Joystick Interface Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X) John - yah, I had to move my mouse cables away from my monitor... got real jumpy on me. Also, sometimes I had to remove my joystick for the mouse to work right... but that went away for some reason. #: 9678 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 23:40:21 Sb: #9668-Hires Joystick Interface Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 (X) Aha! Thanks for the advice. Alas, the cartridge port position means that for right-handed folks, the ergonomically best place for the mouse maximizes the problem you describe. I may just try it southpaw to see what happens. #: 9693 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 20:18:19 Sb: #9666-Hires Joystick Interface Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) I have looked at smouse.ar and got a serial mouse. (It is currently with my AT) But, with all the 68K systems arround the corner and all the possible 386's for OS9000. I am just keeping the COCO the way it it. Try my best to keep it working until I can afford one of the nice machines. Nam #: 9692 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 20:12:08 Sb: #9665-Hires Joystick Interface Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin I behaves erratically. It moves in the opposite direction about 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the screen or at the left most of the screen in a straight line only. Almost as if I have defined the wrong type of interface i.e. defined low res with the hires interface in. Nam #: 9694 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 20:29:54 Sb: #9665-Hires Joystick Interface Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin: Haven't add any hardware recently. Will try cleaning the GIME. The "over sensitive" right and bottom edge is hires interface dependent and not COCO deppendent. Could the GIME be the one causing my COCO to hang as I exist SCULPTOR? This is very strange one I am trying to figure out. I got Sculptor setup on one COCO. It runs fine. I transported the setup to the other COCO. It hangs everytimes I exist the main menu. Nam #: 9669 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 11:18:50 Sb: #9633-GFX2 Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) I seem to have gotten it working by ending with a WnSet 0,0 command. As soon as I get a chance to play with it some more, I will post the results. Tank you, Br. Jeremy #: 9670 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 03-Mar-91 12:25:28 Sb: Need 'C' Programmer- MA Fm: Scott Stingel 73260,3123 To: ALL Need 'C' programmer/consultant in the Boston metro area to develop radio communications software. Must be experienced in writing "embedded" EPROM-based 'C' code to run on a 68000-family CPU. Math or engineering background and standalone (ie: no operating system) programming experience desirable. Please send me an EasyPlex. Thanks, Scott Stingel 73260,3123 #: 9671 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 14:54:47 Sb: #Memory Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: All I'm trying to slim down my memory requirements to give me more ram, but I've r run into a problem. I have a 512k Coco, OS9 level II. Once I boot up and get my shell running, mdir says I have 392k ram free. However, I checked all my modules in memory, taking into account the 8k minimum block size and all the merged files and I come up short 48k. OS9boot takes up 32k, shell+ 8k, all the rest of my loaded utils 16k, and grfdrv 8k. My term is patched to come up as a type 2 window and uses 8k. Thats it...72k. This means I should have 440k free mem. Where is the other 48k?? Thanks in advance...Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9673 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 15:15:14 Sb: #9671-#Memory Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 (X) Dave - Shell itself would need a block for it's data. The kernel itself may add another block, plus one for it's data (process descs, path descs, etc). With MMap and PMap, you should be able to see exactly where all the blocks have gone. Got those? There is 1 Reply. #: 9675 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Mar-91 20:27:52 Sb: #9673-Memory Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin, I do have MMap and PMap, but this my first real forage into the heavy duty, behind the scenes OS9 works so I've been getting "slightly" confused and disoriented of late :-). I read in The Complete Rainbow Guide to OS9 that OS9 Level II needs 64K for the operating system (pg 10). Does this mean that even if OS9Boot needs only 32K of memory, an additional 32K is still put aside by the OS? Are the Boot, OS9P1, and REL part of OS9P2 or are they already in the system (ROM)? I've been doing my calculations assuming that they are part of OS9P2 and take up part of OS9Boot's 32K. If they are not merged in with OS9P2 then they take up a separate 8K block. Or do they each take up a separate 8K block (which comes to 24K). Even if thats the case, I'm still short 24K somewhere. Shell+ is already linked in memory so Term should just take up an additional 8K for the term-window itself. I'll try using MMap and PMap again and see if I can get this figured out down to the BYTE (yeah, right). Thanks, Dave #: 9679 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 04-Mar-91 03:24:02 Sb: #Memory at 3am Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Kevin Darling With no help from the Tandy OS9 LII manual (man, is it confusing) and with the help of your pmap and smap utilities, I've come to few conclusions about memory use under OS9 LII. Is any of this right or am I way off base??: When a module is loaded into memory, only its module size uses up memory(at the top of free RAM). When a module becomes an active process, its data then uses up memory(at the bottom of free RAM). These memory requirements can be found with ident==>Module size and Data size. Everything in OS9Boot is considered active and takes up memory in both code (top) and data(bottom) RAM areas. All these modules together, along with Boot, REL, and OS9P1 are known collectively as "System". If modules are merged, as in OS9Boot, they load without leaving 8K block gaps between them. Therefore, if a merged file has modules needing altogether 25K, then you actually use 32K of RAM or 4 blocks. Code blocks and data blocks are separate and use up 8K blocks individually of eachother. EVEN if the total System memory requirement is less than 64K, 64K is still reserved and whatever the difference is not useable. Now for some questions :-) ==> 1) Why doesn't PMap show the memory blocks for active windows? 2) If you iniz or wcreate two 4K windows, do they use up only 8K together, or do they each use 8K(through my fumblings I've seem to come to the conclusion that they both wind up in the same 8K block)? 3)Why does SLED use up 16K of data RAM when ident shows it to need only 8K==> data size: #4101 ?? 4) Why do I invariably never get my memory back when I deiniz or display 1b 24 a window? The window disappears and so does the memory!!! Hey, who knows...5, 10 more years of this and I might even be able to write a decent program ;-). Thanks...Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9686 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 00:53:44 Sb: #9679-#Memory at 3am Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 (X) Dave - you're right on target, with the sole exception that: the System process doesn't go ahead and allocate 64K of RAM, but will get more if it needs to. If your PMAP shows the system map to be all full up, then that happened. PMap only shows what "64K images" have been assigned to process descriptors (it's a Process Map). It's to help you visualize how block numbers are shared if they hold a module, and to show that code is mapped in high and data mapped in at lower addresses, and to help debug memory requirements, etc. MMap kinda shows the window RAM usage... the window memory comes from the highest block numbers (with the kernel taking up block 3F at the very top). WDir (in the libs) will actually tell you the block number(s) being used for each window, if that'll help. Each little tool tells a piece . The SLED answer: I dunno, but any program can ask for more RAM after it starts up, which could be what's happening there. Yes, two 4K windows will try to use the same 8K block if possible. Use DDir to make sure that the deiniz actually gave up the window. There is a bug with the text windows tho... what happens is this: if the window was visible when it's given up, it is CLS'd. Unfortunately that happens AFTER a "this block is free" flag ($FF) was stored in the first byte of that 4K section when the RAM was given back :-( So the memory effectively disappears from use. Ouch. I'll see if I have a patch. Fast grfdrv? - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9687 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 03:22:51 Sb: #9686-#Memory at 3am Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kev... Thanks so much for the explanations!!!! Ok..when I did PMap, System used only 48k. I was still missing 16K somewhere. Then it kinda dawned on me...I had two immortal shells running. Since Shell is loaded in memory, it takes up 8K. When it comes alive in /term, it needs to take an additional 8K for data. When the second shell came up, it also needed an additional 8K for data, but lived in the same 8K code block as the original shell. I had counted only 16K for both shells when in reality it was 24K. That accounted for 8 of the 16k still missing. Now, even though mfree is loaded into memory, when it is called it takes up an 8k block of RAM for ITS data. Therefore, when you do an mfree, you actually have an extra 8K that will be given back once mfree is finished (ie mfree=48K + 8K for mfree data which will be returned = 56K). Did I find my missing 16k or am I reaching for straws(or bytes)????:-) As for losing memory with my windows...usually the window is visible when I deiniz or display 1b 24. This is because I run basic09 in one window and Sled in another (sled/basic09<>>>/w#). If I quit B09 and sled, the window remains (dead of course). I use wcreate to make my windows...does this make a difference?? Actually, I do iniz one window right away and merge stdfonts,etc to it. I just download fstgrf today...as a matter of fact I just finished making a bootable shellplus with alot of the patches I'v been living without(gfx2, fstgrf,cc3disk.ipc,scffix,new copy and list, and ls). Iwas able to give myself an extra 16k of ram(64k total now) with everything either loaded or in an /r0/cmds/file. Which comes to my final :-) question. When I try to format a disk with my newly booted shell+ and patches, I get an error 237...insufficient Ram. Mfree says I have 64k free. Did the CC3Disk patch cause this??? All other cmds seem to work fine. CRC of patched CC3IO: $E11F29, Edition #11 Once again, thanks for your patience and help. I'll get Wdir and see if I can figure out these windows....does fstgrf fix this???...I didn't check it on the new boot...hm... Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9688 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 05:45:06 Sb: #9687-#Memory at 3am Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 (X) Dave - gee, you sound like an expert ! Yes, I think you found your missing memory. The 237 is different from 207. 207 means not enuf RAM left in the whole system. 237 means there's no room left in the system 64K map. In the case of format, that meant there was not enuf system ram (SMap) left to allocate for the necessary 6K+ track format data buffer. That's a toughie, there, and I think we all run into it... especially with the large bootfiles we now have. Only solution: either kill off some shells, or do formatting when you first boot up ;-). PS: is /r0 inside your 512K? If so, it makes more sense to merge and preload any commands, instead of storing them on internal ramdisk... as loading and executing them means you're using twice the RAM! Ramdisks make more sense for data only under OS9. best - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9696 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 21:50:46 Sb: #9688-#Memory at 3am Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kev, I could've kicked myself when I read about /r0. I was so enchanted with the speed, that I totally forgot/didn't realize that I would use up twice the ram. Oh well, time to write a new OS9Boot :-)! About error 237...I understand the part about not having enuf system ram left.. SMap does show it using up the full 64K. But, I don't understand what killing Shells will do. I don't have shell in my OS9Boot. It loads separately with other merged files and then I link it in the stsrtup file. OR...does it load into System ram??? But PMap shows each shell (2 altogether) to occupy a different 64k block. I'll kill one of the Shells and see if it works, and if it does I'll be da*ned if I'll know why >:-| !!! As always, THANKS!!!! Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9698 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 06-Mar-91 00:16:34 Sb: #9696-#Memory at 3am Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 (X) Dave - ok, the part about killing off shells, windows or other programs (last first) to carve out some system map space for format is because: OS9 uses up that system space for process and path descriptors, and window device variables, etc. Check your SMap, start a new shell, then check SMap again. Anywhere from two to four or more pages are used up for each new process. So.. by getting rid of the lastmost-setup devices/processes, you can sometimes regain enough free system map space for the format buffer. - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9702 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 06-Mar-91 12:03:05 Sb: #9698-#Memory at 3am Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kev, Got it about the system map space! I finally got up and running with commands loaded into mem instead of /r0 and patched shell+ so it would only reserve 1 page of mem when it chained/forked a process instead of 31 pages (thanx Paul Seniura!). This now leaves me with a whopping 112K free, including a 77K ramdisk :-)!! Takes a while to load, but I think I can live with it (he he!). Thanks for the help....I really learned a GREAT deal!!!! Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9710 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 03:10:57 Sb: #9702-Memory at 3am Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 (X) Dave - heck, I didn't do much... you learned it all yourself! PS: a secret -- I wrote those utils so *I* could learn it myself, too . #: 9682 S1/General Interest 04-Mar-91 21:26:22 Sb: #OS-9/OS-9000 Features Fm: William Verthein 76557,3623 To: ALL I am new to the forum and new to OS-9. I have been looking into different operating systems for use in a real time embedded system for my company. I have heard a lot of good things about OS-9/OS-9000 and I'd appreciate any help you forum members can give me. Some questions I have are: 1) What company distributes an 80386 version of OS-9000? 2) Is OS-9000 a real time system (priorities, pre-emption...)? 3) Does anyone out there use OS-9000 in a real time environment? 4) Does anyone out there run OS-9000 on an 80386? Thanx for any help you can give me... wgv There is 1 Reply. #: 9781 S1/General Interest 13-Mar-91 19:46:10 Sb: #9682-OS-9/OS-9000 Features Fm: David L. Kaleita 72657,2775 To: William Verthein 76557,3623 William, although I can't answer your questions quite yet, give me a couple of weeks and I might be able to give you a bit of insight. You see, I have OS-9000 on order (it should arrive within the next few days), complete with the RAVE graphics system. I have been using OS-9 for years and if OS-9000 is even 3/4 of what OS-9 is, then I predict it is EXACTLY what you are looking for. I decided to move to OS-9000 after studying a set of OS-9000 and Rave manuals for a couple of months and finding that Microware has apparently not left anything out from the OS-9 product, and actually added a few nifty new things. I'll report back here as soon as I have a chance to play with it for awhile. By the way, I am the Engineering Manager for a company who designs industrial controls (primarily for resistance welding robots), hence my interest in real time control systems. Besides, computers are one of my hobbies and I just HAD to have the most powerful operating system you can get for a home computer ! One last comment (for the benefit of you UG guys that are reading this message): I'll get back into the OS-9/68000 game when CD-I FINALLY SHOWS UP AT THE CES IN JUNE!!! In the meantime, I've bought myself a PC. MS-DOS does indeed suck, and Windows ain't much better. Give me GEM or MAC any day. I hope I can do some good stuff with Rave. #: 9689 S4/MIDI and Music 05-Mar-91 06:46:58 Sb: #Rhapso Query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise, I had listened to a bit of Rhapsody earlier, but last night I had time to listen to the whole thing and found that it doesn't quite get to the end. I think the last note was an eighth-note chord after bar 230 or 231. Using DED to examine the .ar file shows a string of nulls at the end which doesn't look normal. Did you have any indication that the upload was unsuccessful? Have you downloaded it yourself to check its condition? Perhaps you should chat with the sysop and maybe upload it again?? Sounds good, and I would like to hear the proper ending. There's always the possibility that the problem is on my end somehow, so please let me know what you find out. A vagrant thought; you did end the last measure with a bar, didn't you? Thanks and regards, Ches. There is 1 Reply. #: 9780 S4/MIDI and Music 13-Mar-91 19:01:04 Sb: #9689-Rhapso Query Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Thanks Ches, I'll check it out Huggs, Denise #: 9691 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 05-Mar-91 14:44:04 Sb: #SALT problems?? Fm: Dan Charrois 70721,1506 To: all c/0.1/0.1/ I have a problem with communications on my Coco. I have used the serial port for quite some time, both under RSDOS and with OS9 using the "build-your-own internal RS232 chip" featured in Rainbow several years ago. (I believe it was called "The forgotten chip". At any rate, it has just decided to stop working. Even using thbitbanger method of communicating with the port under RSDOS doesn't seem to do the job. I have disconnected my modification from the SALT chip and the computer is able to communicate with the printer just fine (I re-installed the trace that needed to be removed as well..) Things should be back to normal, but although communication with the printer through the bitbanger is possible, it is not with the modem. (It seems as though the modem must be a little more fussy with voltage levels than the printer is.) Digging a little deeper, I found that sending a 0 to the port gave 0.1V at pin6 of the SALT and a 1 ives 4.7V. This seems fine enough. But pin 12, which seems to be connected to the output port (and hence the peripherals) outputs a 4.1V on a 0, and 1.2V on a 1. I thought the standard was in the 12V range..?? At any rate, this subtle difference dsn't make fr great logic levels, and I think this is why the modem can't figure out what's going on. So, what I'm asking is, is this response to be expected for a SALT chip, or should I look into installing a new one? This is rather frustrating since I operate a BBS under OS9 and it'll have to be down until I fix this. Thanks for your reply....Dan There is 1 Reply. #: 9697 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 06-Mar-91 00:06:38 Sb: #9691-#SALT problems?? Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dan Charrois 70721,1506 (X) Haven't checked it on my machine, but I believe the output should be around +/- 5 volts... they define RS232 as +/- 3 to 12 volts, I think. Sounds like no negative regulation going on. The input at pin 15 should be a negative voltage (unregulated) of at least -10v. If not, check those large diodes at the pwr supply. There is 1 Reply. #: 9708 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 00:23:02 Sb: #9697-SALT problems?? Fm: Dan Charrois 70721,1506 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Thanks a lot for your reply, Kevin. I will check out the voltage levels and see what is going on. Hopefully I can come up with something productive. Thanks....Dan #: 9695 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 05-Mar-91 20:55:08 Sb: Tomcat DL15 stuff? Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: All Anyone know what happened to the past weekend's Tomcat status report? I was kind of looking forward to seeing what's happening. #: 9699 S4/MIDI and Music 06-Mar-91 03:56:10 Sb: #Mfplay Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: Paul Seniura 76476,464 (X) Paul, congrats and encouragement on MFPLAY et al. Please keep up the good work. Ches. There is 1 Reply. #: 9720 S4/MIDI and Music 08-Mar-91 00:03:23 Sb: #9699-#Mfplay Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Well thank you! I'm about to upload a mess of CMFs for the Roland MT32 I found on CIS' MIDI SIG. PolySoft shared some demos of their commercial "jukebox" library. They sound so good, as soon as I get the MFConverter 100% right, I'm going to order their libraries! And then I found four Impromptus (piano concerts) on IEMUG some time back, so I'll upload those, too. Once the MFConv utility comes out, I highly discourage uploading and sharing the CMFs since everyone's MIDI systems are different. The MFConv util will have lots of options to selectively NOT output those special MIDI controls. This means someone could convert then upload an EDITTED PIECE! That's a no-no in several of the "permissions" I have seen over at the MIDI SIG, whereby they want to share their pieces but in their entireity (regardless of the converted form), which is what these CMFs are that I've uploaded. Let a user convert & modify his own version, that's okay, but don't upload it. These are just to get everyone's mouth watering. I suspect once we can get into/out-of UME format, we'll ask to delete these versions. That is, if Mike Knudsen will start supporting the extra MIDI controls (he knows which ones I mean :-). Let me get busy uploading ... -- Thx, Paul Seniura (76476,464). There is 1 Reply. #: 9769 S4/MIDI and Music 11-Mar-91 20:36:25 Sb: #9720-#Mfplay Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X) Paul, I just pulled down your mfconv et al and noted your mention of UnZip v3.0 for OS9. Where is it? I can find a couple of versions of unzip for msdos and C sources, but here I sit without a C compiler. Any help?? Ches. There is 1 Reply. #: 9785 S4/MIDI and Music 13-Mar-91 23:29:21 Sb: #9769-#Mfplay Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Hi. Unzip 3.0 I found on Delphi and/or the RiBBS HQ BBS. They kept putting out a really bad-working version from Sam Smith's Tools BBS (who makes/ports things to Amiga I think; I forget). 3.0 is the first one that has held up across different Zip files. Ported to OS9 by Vaughn Cato. If somehow we can get permission, I think I have the complete package as distributed. -- Paul Seniura. There is 1 Reply. #: 9787 S4/MIDI and Music 14-Mar-91 06:54:25 Sb: #9785-#Mfplay Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 (X) Oh. I guess I'm out of luck for a while then since I'm not on Delphi and don't recognize RiBBS HQ. Suggestions? Ches. There is 1 Reply. #: 9814 S4/MIDI and Music 15-Mar-91 20:18:13 Sb: #9787-#Mfplay Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) Oh lemme peek inside his original file here ... (dontcha love true multitasking windows so I don't hafta logoff to do it?!). It seems that Vaughn made this version of UnZip "from the general UnZip that is provided as source code and is available anywhere". But he went on to say he couldn't share the sources for OS9 as modified *because* of a restriction for sharing modified sources. He only shared the executable and the short readme that says this. I'll post it and let the Sysop decide. Btw Sam Smith (I *think* it *is* Amiga software he ports things to) is the main dude to ask for the sources, in fact I've called his BBS up a few times in the past. Get a '-?' listing when ya get it runnable, and it'll mention his BBS phone # etc. :-) Frankly I don't like the Zip format -- smells of a copyright violation with the U.S. Post Office if you ask me. Plus this is the format that Phil Katz invented after getting sued by (and lost to) the SEA folks (ARC people), if you remember that broo-ha-ha. Katz changes this format, too, more drastically than any other format I know of (even IBM's mainframe stuff!). Come to think of it, the PC people with their "software distribution networks" over the Fido system, has been (still are) using a PAK extension to all of their compressed files -- AND THIS IS *NOT* COMPATIBLE WITH G.B.Janssen's OS9 Pak utility that is found here. Moreover, Janssen's PAK is copyrighted a at least a whole year EARLIER than the earliest copyright for the PC "version". I promptly reported this to the Fido officials and *boy* did they yell back at me. If they do it it's okay, but if we can PROVE we were "first" with a naming convention and how it can cause confusion, we get our faces slapped. I mean this is exactly what SEA/PKWARE were feuding over minus the source-code stealing. That slap in my face got me so frustrated (we can't unpak their goodies etc., plus it IS NOT in a form usable by DeArc no matter what they say). I've not kept up with Fido and haven't been hooked up for two or more months now (mainly getting the MIDI & hardware mods going but the Pak issue There is 1 Reply. #: 9819 S4/MIDI and Music 16-Mar-91 06:54:10 Sb: #9814-Mfplay Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: PaulSeniura 76476,464 Paul, that's an interesting list of incompatibles. I had suspected some of it without having any details, since I had run into the PAK difference before. Your aside remark about the pleasure of multi processing allowing a quick look into another process touches a familiar feeling of mine; ain't it great? I trust you know your message was too long and was truncated? I saw on the MIDI forum that you had been promised a converter from MFF1 to MFF0; please keep us posted on that development. I've used MFCONV to look a bit at the way the music is encoded and I find it interesting, but I don't have the time (and probably not the tools/skill) to be of much help other than to send you encouraging words. Your work in this area is much appreciated. Regards, Ches. #: 9703 S6/Applications 06-Mar-91 12:44:40 Sb: #9585-#Phbook11 Fm: Brian Stretch 76176,1216 To: Tony Cappellini 76370,2104 (X) Got your check the other day.. thanks! (Will send you a registered copy as soon as I can find a proper envelope..) Edit the modem prefix and add a 1 to the end for long-distance numbers. The 1 is not added automatically to accomodate calling cards, etc. (You're the third person to register PBook.. nice to know people are enjoying the program.) There is 1 Reply. #: 9852 S6/Applications 17-Mar-91 23:19:47 Sb: #9703-Phbook11 Fm: Tony Cappellini 76370,2104 To: Brian Stretch 76176,1216 Brian I just finished calling your BBS before I logged into CIS. I forgot that I left you this message here. Disregard the meesage on your BBS, as it is a duplicate of the message I left you here. What is different about the registered copy of Pbook ? Aare there more features, or is it just official. Any chance of sneding me the source so I can customize my version ? Tony #: 9704 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 06-Mar-91 18:20:38 Sb: TSMON Fm: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 To: ALL Has anyone used the program TZMON.AR in lib 8 ? If so could someone please tell me how to use it :-), is it anything like TSMON under level 1 ? Since it comes with no docs, I am totally in the dark!! Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!! Thanx, Bob #: 9705 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 06-Mar-91 18:35:41 Sb: #DeskMate3 Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: all Deskmate 3 won't run with the 1 meg upgrade. Is there a patch that will allow it to run? There is 1 Reply. #: 9711 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 03:12:40 Sb: #9705-DeskMate3 Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 (X) Hmmm. It must assume that memory block numbers don't go that high. You're using the patched VDGInt, right? Can't recall if I ever tried DM3 under 1 meg... probably not. You'd have to just about disasm it to figure out where it was playing games. #: 9709 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 07-Mar-91 00:39:42 Sb: #ar68.bin problem Fm: Scott Tegtmeyer 72560,1503 To: All Dear Forum Members, I have been trying to run ar68.bin on my 68030 VME computer for several weeks. I have contacted several Forum members and Microware customer support, but I still have problems. The problem I am having is that when I try to run ar68.bin, OS-9 thinks it is a procedure file and prints 'Can't execute "J" ...'. When I do an IDENT on the file I get the message 'incomplete module'. When I looked at the file size in the file itself, I found that it was larger than what the dir command showed. I think this indicates that the file was truncated, but I am not sure how this happened. If anyone has the source to ar68.bin, or knows how to fix the problem, I would like to hear from you. Sincerely, Scott Tegtmeyer There is 1 Reply. #: 9712 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 07-Mar-91 03:18:58 Sb: #9709-#ar68.bin problem Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Scott Tegtmeyer 72560,1503 (X) Hi Scott - the source to AR should be in DL9... unfortunately, it's in AR format :-). Can you load AR? If so, then you can Save it back out and that should fix things up. Ooops. Wait. You say part of it is missing? You may have to download it again. PS: the "can't execute J" thing.... always confuses people. What that means is that you have the command in the wrong place. Try moving it to your commands directory, and be sure to set execution attributes on it. Here's the deal. As you know, OS9 searches memory first, then the exec dir, and then looks in the data dir for a *shell procedure* text file. GRIN. Guess what the first byte of an OS9 module is in ASCII? If you guessed "J", you're correct! The shell tried to run it as a shell script, and got terribly confused. best - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9722 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 08-Mar-91 00:57:45 Sb: #9712-#ar68.bin problem Fm: Scott Tegtmeyer 72560,1503 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin, Thanks for responding to my request. Unfortunately, since the AR program source is in AR format, I can't unpack it until I get AR running. I tried downloading the file 3 times, twice on Compuserve and once on a friend's PC using the Bit-Com communications program. All three files compared the same and produced the same result ... 'incomplete module' when I ran the IDENT program. I was hoping you might have a copy of AR unpacked which you could send to me or upload onto Compuserve. If you can't upload or send the source of AR, maybe you could suggest some other approach to this problem. Thanks, There is 1 Reply. #: 9730 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 08-Mar-91 14:09:58 Sb: #9722-ar68.bin problem Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Scott Tegtmeyer 72560,1503 (X) Scott - I wonder what's going on? I just downloaded AR68.BIN (with the B protocol), and Ident said all was okay. It was 21,106 bytes long. What happens when you try to load it? "load -d ar" Does OS9 refuse? I've asked that a copy of a merged text version of the AR source be placed into DL9 for you... should show up within a coupla days. Worst case, you can edit that out into separate files and compile it. Keep us informed. best - kev #: 9713 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 05:30:16 Sb: #8925-CoCo 3 Emulator? Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: John M Semler 74020,736 I am using the Dove. 30% speed-up is just about right. Makes the SE seem like a snail. #: 9714 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 05:32:45 Sb: #9385-LISP for CoCo3 Fm: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 To: Mike Knudsen 72467,1111 Yup, I know all about Wiz Pro, , and Dales col. I'm glad that *someone* followed suit. No 64k limit eh? ;) #: 9715 S9/Utilities 07-Mar-91 08:38:22 Sb: SCCS/what Fm: Mark Wuest 74030,332 To: all I am not sure if anyone else out there does source code version control. We use something called Software Management System (SMS) from Intesoft in UK. It did not come with a "what" command like Unix SCCS (with which it is loosely compatible) so I wrote it. If anyone wants it (other than to just see what it does), respond and I'll upload it. If you just want to know what it does, here it is: You put a line in each source code file like this: static char *smsid = "$Header$"; sms does substitution in $Header$ of a string identifying the source code name, version, and date. "what" displays these strings in a binary (or .r, or c for that matter) and you can see what versions of what files are linked into your module. Now you know. If you have no source code control, it will be of little use. Mark #: 9716 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 12:40:21 Sb: #gfx problem Fm: Tom Napolitano 70215,1130 To: all A friend has found a strange problem with Basic09 and we both would like to hear your ideas. From a VDG screen, run a GFX("mode",1,2) GFX("quit"). Try to rerun the program. I keep getting errors which only clear up with a $display # where # can be anything. If I replace the "quit" with a print or put #1 chr$($12), I still get the same error. However, if I shell "display 12" then the program works just fine. GFX is just doing a write $12 to CC3IO as is the print and put. So why do I need a shell intermediary? The error varies from 246 to 207 to others, but is based on problems with screen deallocation. Even a $display 0 clears up the problem. Any ideas? It sounds like what I experience when io is blocked to a screen. Instead of "display #" if I just do a dir or procs or any command that generates io on the current screen it fixes the error. This also happens when I abort a command that uses pipes and so I attributed it to io that doesn't get flushed to the stdout (maybe because its buffered?) until you do something like running another command that flushes the buffer. Is this just another "feature" of os9? There is 1 Reply. #: 9719 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 07-Mar-91 23:00:47 Sb: #9716-#gfx problem Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Tom Napolitano 70215,1130 (X) Tom - I can't duplicate the problem here, but then I'm patched a bit. I wrote a two line basic09 program: run gfx("mode",1,2) and run gfx("quit"), and it worked over and over. My GFX brain is rusty tho. What kind of screens have you used before this is done, etc? Also, is a progam always alive on that VDG window? There is 1 Reply. #: 9725 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 08-Mar-91 07:01:24 Sb: #9719-gfx problem Fm: Tom Napolitano 70215,1130 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin, yes, a program is always running in the window, but I think the vdg screen was the only one up at the time. Thanks, tom #: 9717 S7/Telecommunications 07-Mar-91 20:17:22 Sb: #more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: 76625,2273 (X) Bruce, I've built myself an rs232 cable with swapped DSR/DCD so now there shouldn't be a problem with the serial port not receiving connect messages from the modem. With the swapped DSR/DCD, I now xmode /t2 XTP=85 instead of XTP=05 that I used previously. Is TSMOn smart enough to deal with the "OK" messages sent back from the modem? As far as modem connect, that part is fine. The connection is made, but TSMON just doesn't recognize the caller's carriage returns. After a call-in attempt, a PROC command shows that TSMON is suspended. Variables: 1. I use Dennis Skala's clock driver for the B&B. That driver is supposed to be compatible with the clock you provide in the Eliminator software package. 2. My multipak is not upgraded. Before I used the hardware clock driver, the system time would advance at an exceptional rate during serial port transmissions. I notice the keyboard repeat is "enhanced" during serial transmissions also. Could it be tha the non-upgraded multipak can be causing me grief?? Someday this will be behind me, but right now it's tough to keep a smile on my face! Hugo There are 2 Replies. #: 9718 S7/Telecommunications 07-Mar-91 22:22:49 Sb: #9717-#more tsmon Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Hugo - definitely yes: the non-upgraded MPI is causing your clock/keybd problems. It's because when the cpu reads the GIME irq register, your MPI is turning on and overwhelming the data bus with false info. The upgraded MPI doesn't do that. best - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9726 S7/Telecommunications 08-Mar-91 11:17:51 Sb: #9718-#more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) My only question is, why do term programs run ok in spite of the "super speed". Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9727 S7/Telecommunications 08-Mar-91 11:22:45 Sb: #9726-#more tsmon Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Umm. The term programs only require that the characters incoming are found, and the extra fake interrupt flags (caused by the MPI) actually would help there, perhaps... altho causing some cpu time to be wasted checking for irqs that didn't really exist. There is 1 Reply. #: 9732 S7/Telecommunications 08-Mar-91 16:55:00 Sb: #9727-more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) OK, I've been testing again with my friend today and things were especially bad. I would start any tsmon (microware's, Bruce's, Bruce's patched by my friend, etc) and every time, your proc command would show Tsmon suspended. I've ordered the satellite board upgrade for my mpak from Howard Medical. Should arrive next week sometime. Hopefully, upgrading will solve the problem because I just don't see where I'm doing anything wrong. And I want to get UUCP up and running so bad now! What's weird is that my friends Mpak isn't upgraded either, and he has no problems. Such is life. Hugo #: 9735 S7/Telecommunications 08-Mar-91 22:52:02 Sb: #9717-#more tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) ~ Hugo, As Kevin said, the un-upgraded MPI is probably causing some of your problems, so get it upgraded ASAP. As for the B&B clock, it should be OK. Actually, it really wouldn't matter if it had the GIME IRQ toggle or not, except Rx characters might be lost more often. But I doubt it'd cause the total lack of response you're seeing. A couple more things to check. If your modem has LED status lights, can you see if the Tx and Rx lights come on (virtually) solid as soon as the connection is made? If so, your modem echo isn't being turned off by the "initialization" string properly, although it looked fine in your example "init" file. Also, your serial port's echo isn't being turned off by TSMon, though it's supposed to do that whether or not it was enabled in the first place. Also, try enabling "forced DTR". That'd be "xtp=C5" with swapped DCD+DSR, or "xtp=45" with regular DSR+DCD. That should prevent any small period of time where DTR is dropped when TSMon forks LogIn, though it really shouldn't happen at all. Speaking of LogIn, what happens when you try "TSMon" in a window. No "init" file, just start TSMon all by itself. Does LogIn work properly then, finding the password file (./SYS/password or /DD/SYS/password, or whatever your LogIn wants) and so on? One other thing is you said "... caller's carriage returns.", but you didn't say whether the caller tried typing in the full "CONNECT" message followed by a carriage return. Please try that and let me know the results. I'm sorry I can't be more help, but I only use the TSMon program's most basic (original) capabilities. I did have a terrible time writing it (as Pete Lyall said, and auto-baud TSMon is among the most difficult trivial programs to write) and getting it to work decently. And it does work for me, when I test the auto-baud stuff... though as you've found out some people have no luck with it at all. Bruce There is 1 Reply. #: 9749 S7/Telecommunications 10-Mar-91 08:32:30 Sb: #9735-#more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) Bruce, The other day I tried the stock tsmon, and immediately upon initialization, a PROC command would show the process as suspended. The other day it worked fine. Then I tried your tsmon with and without the initialization file. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't (set up corectly). However, sometimes it seems to set up just fine. Then a caller calls in, and the PROC command shows the program as suspended with an AGE of 255. So either with or without an initialization file, your tsmon does absolutely nothing except get suspended once someone calls in. By serial port echo, does that mean I should set eko=0 ? TSMon works fine in windows. Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9826 S7/Telecommunications 16-Mar-91 18:50:28 Sb: #9749-#more tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) ~ Hugo, I don't think being suspended is the problem, but maybe it is a clue. The serial driver must be suspending TSMON because it tried to read when there was no data available, which is normal. The problem appears to be with either the hardware or driver for the serial port. You need to be using a driver that supports the get/set status calls required by TSMON, such as SACIA. ACIAPAK will not do the job, unless it is a customized version, and even then if there are problems I can't help you at all. If the driver isn't at fault, then you need to ensure that DCD is valid for the 6551 ACIA to receive data. If you have swapped the DCD+DSR lines, make sure that your modem forces DSR valid (which is then swapped and hooked up to the 6551's DCD input). If you haven't swapped DCD+DSR, then make sure your modem enables DCD before transmitting any data to the 6551 ACIA. Also, make sure that the /T2 descriptor's "swap DCD+DSR" bit in the XTP byte matches the serial cable. I think you mentioned once that you've done the DCD+DSR swap, so the first thing to do is ensure that the modem forces DSR enabled all the time. Bruce There is 1 Reply. #: 9835 S7/Telecommunications 17-Mar-91 09:56:54 Sb: #9826-#more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) Bruce, I'm doing one last ditch effort. On the software end, everything is in order. I have a swapped DCD/DSR cable, I have set XTP=85, and I'm using the SACIA.mpi driver. I'll let you know what happens once I install the satellite upgrade board in my multipak. Kevin Darling recommended that I perform the upgrade since it may be possible that my problems are MPI related. Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9847 S7/Telecommunications 17-Mar-91 21:15:00 Sb: #9835-#more tsmon Fm: Bruce Isted 76625,2273 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) ~ Hugo, Yes, by all means do the MPI upgrade. It could be the problem, I've seen stranger things! Anyway, did you check to ensure that your modem forces DSR (now hooked to the 6551 ACIA's DCD input) enabled? Also, I assume SACIA has been set up for the appropriate MPI select code...? By default the sacia.mpi driver sets the MPI for floppy controller in slot 4 and RS-232 Pak in slot 1. Bruce There is 1 Reply. #: 9859 S7/Telecommunications 18-Mar-91 19:24:44 Sb: #9847-more tsmon Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Bruce Isted 76625,2273 As of yesterday, the MPI upgrade board is installed. (My first hardware soldering project!) . Now, I need to have someone call in to test that %&$#* TSMON. If it doesn't work, I'll scream. By the way, I was meaning to ask you about that slot select stuff mentioned in the eliminator manual. It says something about setting a byte at some offset in SACIA. I don't quite understand what you were trying to explain. Right now, my floppy controller (Disto DC-7) is in Slot 4, B&B controller is in slot 3, and rs232 pak is in slot 1. Is this the definitely the default that SACIA.mpi is set for? I'll let you know how the tsmon stuff goes once I can get Bob Billson to call in. (He was working with Rich Mailer, if you remember). Hugo #: 9723 S1/General Interest 08-Mar-91 01:57:12 Sb: #Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: all Help! I download aro9.bin and sr.doc using xmodem, then used DOSOR9.bas on tyhem to make them readable under os9 [D, then I copied them onto an os9 formated disk along with sterm.bin Sterm.ar but I cannot get AR to work. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I ned something called "Instructions for the complete idiot." or somet thanks , Dale A. Toyne There is 1 Reply. #: 9731 S1/General Interest 08-Mar-91 15:16:48 Sb: #9723-#Help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Hi Dale. You already got the hard part done. Now set the file permissions on Ar, so that OS-9 will let you load, run, and/or delete it: attr /d1/ar e pe w You might also want to copy it to your CMDS dir. Or just load it with a full pathname, like load /d1/ar Okay, once you get it loadable, then you need to know how to use it... which is the semi-complicated part. Basically, you CHD to the directory where you want the broken-out files to end up. For example, let's say you downloaded sterm.ar to drive 0. First, make sure it has the ".ar" extension on the filename. Now, if you wanted to break it out to drive 1, you'd say: chd /d1 <== where files will go ar -x /d0/sterm <== where sterm.ar is now All the files will be de-archived to /d1. Ignore any "archive" errors; they're probably due to xmodem padding adding junk to the file and confusing ar. You can also do an "ar -t /d0/sterm" and check what files are in an archive first, if you wish. Yell if need help. - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9737 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 01:02:40 Sb: #9731-#Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Thanks I'll give it a try an let you know how it works out, Appreciate the help. Thanks, Dale There is 1 Reply. #: 9738 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 02:58:18 Sb: #9737-#Help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Okey-doe. Let us know if it works. Oh. Have you downloaded anything else, and did those work before? We'll figure it out (actually, more likely YOU will figure out, and let us know :-). cheers - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9739 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 03:10:03 Sb: #9738-#Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) I downloaded pacman and your instructions worked great. But I still can't get STERM1.ar busted I get the message "ar cannot find sterm1.ar There is 1 Reply. #: 9742 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 13:02:56 Sb: #9739-#Help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Hmm. Does "sterm1.ar" really have the ".ar" extension? Did you give a full path to it? (assuming you didn't break it out in the same disk/dir) Better do this: tell us which disk it's on, how many drives you have, etc. - kev There is 1 Reply. #: 9747 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 05:36:19 Sb: #9742-#Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) It has the ar extension. Its on /d1 and ar is on /d0/cmds. I try to bustt it and ar says it can't find it. I try to copy it and I get "n There is 1 Reply. #: 9748 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 05:39:37 Sb: #9747-#Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Half of my message got cut off. I get no permission when i try to copy the file sterm1.ar the attr's are set for public read, write, and ex There is 1 Reply. #: 9752 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 13:29:31 Sb: #9748-#Help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Hmm. Has sterm.ar been copied to a real OS9 disk, like you did with Pacman? You should be able to chd /d1 ar -x sterm A "dir e /d1" shows sterm.ar, right? Ah, maybe you need to take off the execution permission? (I haven't checked to see if ar cares about that). There is 1 Reply. #: 9758 S1/General Interest 11-Mar-91 02:33:14 Sb: #9752-#Help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) I can't get sterm1.ar copied to a real os9 disk. I was able to with Pacman but not with sterm. Sterm is still on the dosor9 disk. There is 1 Reply. #: 9759 S1/General Interest 11-Mar-91 02:36:36 Sb: #9758-Help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Ouch. What kind of error do you get when you try to copy sterm.ar to an os9 disk? Also, what happens if you do an "ar -t /d1/sterm1" even with the dosor9 disk? #: 9733 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 08-Mar-91 17:08:15 Sb: #question Fm: Kevin L. 71521,2723 To: all Has anyone heard of a profesinal 68000 based computer made by TBL, or Foxmyer? I can get one for next to nothing! I would first like to know if I can get any software for it, especialy OSK. Kevin There is 1 Reply. #: 9734 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 08-Mar-91 19:15:46 Sb: #9733-#question Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Kevin L. 71521,2723 (X) Will the seller let you take a gander at the manuals before you buy? I think I'd ask about that. I've never heard of TBL or Foxmyer. There is 1 Reply. #: 9736 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 09-Mar-91 00:09:31 Sb: #9734-question Fm: Kevin L. 71521,2723 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) I may get it free! and I'm not sure about the manuals. If he has any or not but Why didn't I think about that ? Prety stupid huh? Thanks Kevin #: 9741 S4/MIDI and Music 09-Mar-91 05:55:57 Sb: MFConverter.AR Fm: PaulSeniura 76476,464 To: all About the MFConverter.AR package I uploaded. You need to read the documentation, especially the RULES section, before using the program. Basically, it's like this: I'm going to ask that all the Sysops to not accept CMF files (output from the MFConv program). In fact I'm asking you not to share any such output on any system whatsoever. If the original SMF file can be shared, THEN SHARE IT INSTEAD, and it *should* be placed on the MIDI SIGs rather than the CoCo or OS9 SIGs. Once the MFConv and MFPlay programs have been on the OS9 SIGs for a sufficient amount of time, I will delete the CMFs I have posted myself. I'll make a new archive with the two programs and new documentation sans CMF files. There will be plenty of SMFs to download and use in the MIDI SIGs everywhere. I feel by providing some sample CMFs will help in getting a firm grip on how to use the MFConv program. These samples can be used as a comparison to see if you are running MFConv correctly. After a while, even myself will succumb to these rules and won't be sharing CMFs anymore. You're whining "Why the restrictions?" I bet. If you need reasons, they are explained in the readme file. So please read it before commencing. I'm posting the same rules on every network I have accounts on. -- Thx, Paul Seniura #: 9743 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 21:59:06 Sb: #Erase Fm: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762 To: All Is there a utility available that will erase a file by writing zeros (or whatever) over the data before deleting it? Would be useful for security reasons. There is 1 Reply. #: 9744 S1/General Interest 09-Mar-91 23:12:16 Sb: #9743-#Erase Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762 (X) I think I have indeed seen one--it is in the UG library, if memory serves. It wouldn't be hard to write one, for that matter; just get the file size, and write out that many zeroes, preferably a sector size or multiple thereof at a time (save for the last hunk, of course). There is 1 Reply. #: 9745 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 00:43:20 Sb: #9744-Erase Fm: Ian Hodgson 72177,1762 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) I'll take a look in the UG library, but hope someone can remember the file name so I don't have to BROwse for too long! Maybe I should take the time to write one, but I'm usually too busy writing text instead of programs. Thanks for the suggestion. #: 9750 S7/Telecommunications 10-Mar-91 08:35:18 Sb: #shell+/mail Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: All My friend Bob asked me to post this question of his here on CIS: sg#: 6342 ** Private Mail ** 03/09/91 13:45:35 From: BOB BILLSON Can you ask anyone who might be able to help, how to get Shell+ v2.1 NOT to strip the '%' from a command line? I am attempting to write a smart mailer to be used with both of current OS-9 UUCP programs out there. In order to be able to handle Internet-style addresses properly such as: bob%kc2wz.uucp@fdurt1.fdu.edu When Shell+ gets done with the address it becomes: bobkc2wz.uucp@fdurt1.fdu .edu definitely not the same thing. Quoting the address like you can do with '!' to protect it from the shell doesn't help. Shell+ still removes the '%'. I guess no matter what it treats the % as a shell variable. Seems like a bug in Shell+. Does anyone have a way to fix this? There is 1 Reply. #: 9807 S7/Telecommunications 15-Mar-91 16:47:03 Sb: #9750-#shell+/mail Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) You have to preface any command that has a percent sign (%) in it with a SHELL+ 2.1 command to turn off the shell variable feature. OS9:-v OS9:{command with a % in it} OS9:v The -v and v turn the variable feature off and on, respectively. I ran into the same problem with RSB commands which use a % to point to an drive containing in RS-DOS diskette. Lee There is 1 Reply. #: 9809 S7/Telecommunications 15-Mar-91 18:45:02 Sb: #9807-#shell+/mail Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X) Thanks Lee. I'll send Bob your response to his question! Hugo Bueno There is 1 Reply. #: 9824 S7/Telecommunications 16-Mar-91 16:09:26 Sb: #9809-shell+/mail Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) No problem. Glad I could help. Have a "bueno" day!!!!! Lee #: 9751 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 10-Mar-91 12:54:13 Sb: #9560-#OSK Clib.l Order Fm: Robert Heller 71450,3432 To: Carl Kreider 71076,76 *I* have a working version of LHArc - I ported it from the UNIX version from unix.sources (ftp'ed from uunet.uu.net). Robert There is 1 Reply. #: 9761 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 11-Mar-91 04:29:17 Sb: #9751-#OSK Clib.l Order Fm: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 To: Robert Heller 71450,3432 (X) This could be interesting, we've been playing with a ported version of LHArc now for about 6, maybe 8 months! Did you define a new extended header for OSK file info? (Store the attributtes, etc...) This version does, and I'd hate to see multiple/different versions around for OSK. We've have been creating and extracting data with LHArc for some time now. So we need to keep something like this standardized. Know what I mean? Mike Haaland There is 1 Reply. #: 9766 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 11-Mar-91 06:10:45 Sb: #9761-OSK Clib.l Order Fm: Robert Heller 71450,3432 To: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 (X) Mike: I just did a quick and dirty port of the UNIX version. I needed it in a hurry - the PTB on FidoNet decided to change the archive method for FidoNews from ARC 5.12 to LHArc without warning anyone. My only other choise would have been to find someone with a Mess-dos machine to unpack the FidoNews files for me. So I FTP'ed the UNIX port of lharc and ported it. I only use it to unpack FidoNews issues (a minor pain since the files arrrive on my CP/M-68K machine and I have to ship the file to my OSK machine to unpack and repack as an .ARC file for processing on my CP/M-68K machine). I also ported the UNIX version of UNZIP too (a simular quick and dirty done in "self-defense"). It seems that the mess-dos world seems to be insisting on using these non-portable archiving methods... And seem to have little interest in supporting people with other operating systems (as if such people are some oddball minority or something). Robert #: 9753 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 15:15:05 Sb: #Packet Radio Fm: John Baer 71615,1175 To: ALL Hello all. I don't know if this question was asked before but, here goes. I was wondering if someone can give the information needed on the hardware/ software needed to connect OS-9 to "packit" radio? I know a cupple of "ham's" in my area, but they are using clone systems so that don't help any! If someone could point me in the right direction, any and all info you could give is GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks in advance. John Baer 71615,1175 J There is 1 Reply. #: 9757 S1/General Interest 10-Mar-91 23:18:27 Sb: #9753-Packet Radio Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: John Baer 71615,1175 John, "Packet" (not 'Packit') radio is a general term that doesn't always tell exactly what you're going to be doing. If you're merely wanting to hook up your computer to a TNC and do real-time control of the TNC, to talk on the air, do the TNC controlling, etc, then any terminal program should work... as long as you are NOT using a standard RS-232 ROMPack (which requires that the Carrier Detect be held hi in order for incoming data to be passed along back to the computer). Since OS-9 is an operating system that operates on several different, very divergant, computer systems, you'll have to specify your hardware before we can tell you much more. Wayne #: 9754 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 10-Mar-91 15:53:42 Sb: Tetris Fm: Al Fleagle 72527,1354 To: all Does anyone know where I can get a copy of Tetris for OS9? I lost my copy when my drive crashed. #: 9756 S9/Utilities 10-Mar-91 16:16:12 Sb: #OSK HELP needed Fm: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 To: all Greeting- I have uploaded a modified version of Pete's uptime utility to the utility lib. It can be found in uptime2.ar. The mod consists of putting the date and time in the uptime display. Works great under os9 and under Coherent (the $99 unix clone) My question is why does it bomb out under OSK?! someone with more OSK experience please fix it and point the errors out to me as I have been having no luck with anything involving time under OSK! Thanks for any help, and to those folks who use the prog under OS9 enjoy! -Brett There are 4 Replies. #: 9762 S9/Utilities 11-Mar-91 04:34:02 Sb: #9756-OSK HELP needed Fm: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 To: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 (X) Brett, I took a look at your code and found a couple of things you might have missed in the manual. First, the 'tm' time structure is defined under 'mktime()' in the MW C manual. tm_mon is the number of months AFTER january, so in order to get the correct month add 1. The code was also failing to compile cause there is no headers 'utime.h' or 'lowio.h'. In order to get around that I used an #ifdef OSK preprocessor directive to include the proper defines and headers for OSK. Also I changed the variable 'clock' to 'clck', cause clock is an OSK function. All the long's in the code I changed to 'time_t' and added a typedef long time_t to the OS9 ifdef switch, mainly cause that's what the OSK time functions return and are defined as in the header 'time.h'. (Plus it made it easier for me! It works fine now. One more thing, If you really meant /R0/SYS/uptime to be the filename, I assume you're iniz'ing the Ramdisk and making the SYS directory on /R0 before running the util, right? New Code in the NEXT MESSAGE #: 9763 S9/Utilities 11-Mar-91 04:41:10 Sb: #9756-OSK HELP needed Fm: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 To: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 (X) /* Uptime - reports how long the system has been up since ** last reboot. Requires that an 'uptime -' command be ** placed in the system startup file. The 'uptime -' syntax ** may only be used by the superuser to initialize the 'uptime' ** file in /DD/SYS. Using 'uptime' by itself will yield ** a report of how long it has been since the 'uptime -' ** command was run. ** ** Note: for speed, it may be better to redefine FNAME ** to use the RAMDISK, if you have one. ** ** by Pete Lyall 76703,4230 ** 4/19/89 */ #include #ifdef OSK #include #define WRITE 0x02 #define READ 0x01 extern int errno; #else #include typedef long time_t #endif OSK /* #include */ #define FNAME "/DD/SYS/uptime" time_t time(); time_t clck; /* changed from 'clock' which is an osk function */ time_t future; struct tm *tm; Continued in next message #: 9764 S9/Utilities 11-Mar-91 04:42:14 Sb: #9756-OSK HELP needed Fm: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 To: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 (X) main(argc,argv) int argc; char **argv; { int days, hours, minutes, seconds; time_t boottime,nowtime, delta; int tpath; if((argc >1) && (*argv[1] == '-')) { if(getuid()) exit(_errmsg(214,"only root user may initialize uptime\n")); nowtime = time(NULL); if((tpath = open(FNAME,WRITE)) == -1) if((tpath = creat(FNAME, WRITE | READ)) == -1) exit(_errmsg(errno,"cannot open %s\n", FNAME)); write(tpath, &nowtime, sizeof(time_t)); close(tpath); exit(0); } else { nowtime = time(NULL); if((tpath = open(FNAME,READ)) == -1) exit(_errmsg(errno,"cannot open %s\n", FNAME)); read(tpath, &boottime,sizeof(time_t)); close(tpath); delta = nowtime-boottime; days = (int)(delta/86400L); delta -= (time_t)days * 86400L; hours = (int)(delta/3600L); delta -= (time_t)hours * 3600L; minutes = (int)(delta/60L); delta -= (time_t)minutes * 60L; seconds = delta; time (&clck); tm=localtime(&clck); fprintf(stdout," %02.02d/%02.02d/%02.02d %02.02d:%02.02d:%02.02d up for: %d days %d hours %d minutes %d seconds\n", \ tm->tm_year, tm->tm_mon + 1, tm->tm_mday, tm->tm_hour, \ tm->tm_min, tm->tm_sec,days, hours, minutes, seconds); } } #: 9765 S9/Utilities 11-Mar-91 04:45:44 Sb: #9756-#OSK HELP needed Fm: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 To: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 (X) All in all it looks like you have a pretty good handle on the time fucntions. If I can help with anything just holler, Mike There is 1 Reply. #: 9817 S9/Utilities 15-Mar-91 23:52:17 Sb: #9765-OSK HELP needed Fm: Brett Wynkoop 72057,3720 To: Mike Haaland 72300,1433 (X) Greeting- Thanks for the help. I am going to look at the code off line to see where my errors were. With luck I will have some of my 6809 stuff moved to OSK by the fest! -Brett #: 9760 S1/General Interest 11-Mar-91 04:13:46 Sb: #help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: 76703,4227 (X) I think I've found the problem. But I still don't have the solution. Dosor9 didn't finish with the disk, it was ending with an FC error in 2330. I think it only wrote the directory and then ended because sterm1.ar was too long. When I tried to us it on sterm.ar it said "too fragmented" and ended. What now ?? There is 1 Reply. #: 9767 S1/General Interest 11-Mar-91 17:02:19 Sb: #9760-#help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Dale - okay, that makes sense. Under rsdos, try copying the file to a fresh rsdos disk, so that it's not so broken up. Also, there's a newer dosor9 in the libs which handles files larger than 64K... that's the main prob. There is 1 Reply. #: 9770 S1/General Interest 12-Mar-91 01:42:03 Sb: #9767-help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Thanks I'll get the newer dosor9 program and try that. I've already tried recop recopying to a brand new formatted disk and still too fragmented. thanks again, Dale #: 9771 S1/General Interest 12-Mar-91 03:25:02 Sb: #help with ar Fm: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 To: 76703,4227 (X) Success !!!!! The newer dosor9 program did the trick. Thanks a lot for all the help, I really appreciate it. Dale There is 1 Reply. #: 9773 S1/General Interest 12-Mar-91 14:55:23 Sb: #9771-help with ar Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Dale Toyne 76304,2104 (X) Excellent!! You did all the hard work tho. Thx for keeping at it! cheers - kev #: 9772 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 12-Mar-91 07:04:11 Sb: RAINBOW Mags forsale Fm: Bill Henderson 72215,341 To: All I have for sale a complete set of RAINBOW magazine from December 1982 to January 1990. If you are interested in purchasing these magazines (all 84 of them), please leave me a message. I will gladly part with them for the best offer. Bill Henderson #: 9774 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 12-Mar-91 16:33:43 Sb: Addresses needed Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: All Many of you have sent me money for the games I have written. Many thanks! A However, my database file got scrambled and I lost everyones' addresses. I need the addresses for two reasons: so I can send out upgrades and source code requests and so I can send everyone a copy of my upcoming game for beta testing. So, anyone who has sent money for one of my programs, please leave email with your addresses. Thanks! #: 9775 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 12-Mar-91 20:34:20 Sb: #WD1002 controller Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Bruce Isted Bruce. I have been ofered a WD 1002-HDO controller. The person that has them has told me that they are a direct replacement for the WD 1002-05. The instruction set in the WD1002-HDO is more extensive but otherwise the same as the WD1002-HDO. Now I have no real way to check this out so I am hoping that you may know something about these controllers and will be able to solve this dillema for me. BTW thanks or the repair of the ELIMINATOR board. Joerg Sattler, 74016,631 There are 2 Replies. #: 9777 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 13-Mar-91 11:31:40 Sb: #9775-#WD1002 controller Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 (X) Joerg - I believe the only difference between the WD-1002-05 and the WD-1002-HDO is that the latter is HARD DISK ONLY, and has no onboard WD2797 floppy disk controller. Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 9784 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 13-Mar-91 22:46:06 Sb: #9777-#WD1002 controller Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) I was led to believe that the HDO version has both lfloppy as well as hard disk support. Did I get it wrong ?? Joerg There is 1 Reply. #: 9789 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 13:08:34 Sb: #9784-#WD1002 controller Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 (X) When I was last paying attention to the WD-1005-xxx series, I was told by Kent Meyers that the HDO was hard disk only (or was it Steve Odneal, who put out the predecessor to the Isted system?) That's my only reference to the HDO unit, as all of mine (3) have been -05's. If you can't get a response from Bruce, try calling Computer Surplus listed in the Computer Shopper. They were selling WD-1005's for long time (may still have them) and could probably tell you. Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 9790 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 15:41:40 Sb: #9789-WD1002 controller Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thanks I will do that. Joerg #: 9827 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 18:50:31 Sb: #9775-#WD1002 controller Fm: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 To: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 (X) ~ Joerg, As I said in EMAIL, the WD 1002-HDO is a "Hard Drive Only" version of the WD 1002-05. It supports hard drives exactly the same as the -05, but can't be used to control floppy drives. This is more for others than for you, since I see you've already seen my EMAIL. Bruce There is 1 Reply. #: 9836 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 10:34:47 Sb: #9827-WD1002 controller Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Bruce Isted (UG VP) 76625,2273 (X) So the problem of locating a WD 1002-05 still remains. Joerg #: 9860 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 18-Mar-91 22:11:44 Sb: WD1002 controller Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Bruce Isted 76625,2273 Well Frank (Hogg) gave me a number to call for RMT. 800 243 6922 but when I tried it there was no answer. I tried sveral times but had no luck. So I'm not sure the number is still valid . Joerg. Ex 1 #: 9782 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 13-Mar-91 19:59:09 Sb: #Ldgr45.pak Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: 76264,142 Tried to use ldgr45.pak, got an error, "module not found". What is Gshell+? Will the program run as is under runb? Or does it need Gshell+? Is Gshell+ the same as multiview? I got that if I need it. One other thing, is it an arcd file (ldgr45)? Thanks, Denise There is 1 Reply. #: 9802 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 23:28:04 Sb: #9782-Ldgr45.pak Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise.... GShell+ is an enhanced GShell for Multivue. It should be in the Apps lib but I'm not sure. -Dave #: 9792 S4/MIDI and Music 14-Mar-91 18:46:40 Sb: #Rhapsody Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: 73016,1336 (X) Ches, you got the whole score. I forgot to add a Fine to the end and put a bar in. The eigth notes at the end are supposed to be a "stinger". Denise There is 1 Reply. #: 9804 S4/MIDI and Music 15-Mar-91 10:06:00 Sb: #9792-Rhapsody Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Thanks for the info Denise - that's an easy fix. Regards, Ches. #: 9794 S11/OS9/6809 (Non-CoCo) 14-Mar-91 18:50:36 Sb: #Non Coco os9 Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Sysop (X) Are there modules that will run under a Coco in Lib 11? Same microprossessor it looks like? There is 1 Reply. #: 9798 S11/OS9/6809 (Non-CoCo) 14-Mar-91 19:24:02 Sb: #9794-Non Coco os9 Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise - yah, non-coco OS9 programs should run fine on the CoCo (6809 ones, that is). best - kev #: 9795 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 18:52:26 Sb: #LDGR45.PAK Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Sysop (X) Is the file "LDGR45.PAK" in library 10, a arced file? I can't get it to run on my Coco 3 512k using runb Thanks, Denise There are 2 Replies. #: 9796 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 18:56:59 Sb: #9795-#LDGR45.PAK Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise - There's yet another archiver/packer/cruncher/compressor floating about called PAK. Anything with a .pak extension needs that in order to be unPAKed. Check DL9 for PAK (i.e. BRO/KEY: PAK or BRO PAK*). Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 9811 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 19:01:24 Sb: #9796-#LDGR45.PAK Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thanks Pete, for the much needed info Huggs, Denise There is 1 Reply. #: 9816 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 22:52:30 Sb: #9811-LDGR45.PAK Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) De nada, De nise. (g) Pete #: 9797 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 18:58:27 Sb: #9795-LDGR45.PAK Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise - Found it... nab PAK.BIN in DL10. That should do it. Pete #: 9799 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 20:01:15 Sb: #Voltage level Fm: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 To: All I'm looking for some suggestions... I'm running OS9 level II on my Coco, and would like to monitor the status of a voltage level as a background task, and periodically record the value of the (binary) level to a log file. I've written a program that almost works, but there is a problem. I have wired the signal to the left joystick X input. Apparently, though, the returned value is valid only if I am in the calling window. Wiring the signal to the fire button won't work, of course, since if the signal is true, the keyboard will be locked out for all other processes. Most of my available ports are tied up. I've got a hi-res interface tying up the right joystick input and the casette I/O. The printer, of course, is hogging T1. I've got a MultiPak with slot 1 being a dual RS232 pak, slot 3 is the HD adapter and slot 4 is the floppy controller. I'd prefer to keep slot 2 open. What can I wire my signal to, such that it will not conflict/ interfere with other processes? The output of my device is either 0.7V or about 5 volts. There is 1 Reply. #: 9805 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 11:41:37 Sb: #9799-#Voltage level Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 (X) What about using a bit of buffering circuitry (and possibly level reducing) and using that cassette data input line? That's certainly unused under os9. Also - you could get 'dirty' and write a program that interrogates the other joystick input (using your OWN low level routines to manipulate the joystick selector MUX and comparator - using the system's would obviously create the problem you've encountered). Other possibilities include using unused lines on one of the PIA's and hanging a wire out the back. Pete P.S. You could get some joystick tweaking code from the color basic rom disassemblies, if you have the "UNRAVELLED" series. You'll need to be careful to lock interrupts while you're manipulating any control registers and restore things as you found them. There is 1 Reply. #: 9831 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 23:18:13 Sb: #9805-Voltage level Fm: Chris Bergerson 72227,127 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thanks for the good suggestions, Pete. Seems to me that there's also an unused input to be found on the RGB connector. I do like the idea, though, of writing a non-system routine to look at one of the joystick buttons. #: 9800 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 21:22:50 Sb: #NEED OS9 Term Prog Fm: Charles L. Mallory 76447,166 To: [F] All T0: OS9 SYSOP FROM: 76447,166 Charles L. Mallory Looking for: Communications software compatible w/OS9 Requirements: 1. Can be used with Hard drive 2. has built in or can access wordprocessor while in term mode 3. Can access OS9 files for uploading while on-line at the terminal screen 4. Can direct incomming data to /D0 /D1 or /H0 /H1 5. Ccan be used with auto dial auto answer modem 7. Compatible with 300-9600 baud modem 8. several xmit and receive protocols 9. If possible, can send incomming data to /P as it is received We are currently using the listed Hdwr CoCo 3 512K Multipak interfface Segate ST251-1 80 meg Hd Ddrive; /H0 and /H1 Burke & Burke CcoCo XT & XT-RTC Controller Ver. 2.4B Tandy 501 Disc Drive /D0 & /D1 Tandy 300 Baud Direct Connect Modem Pak (Slot ) Tandy CM8 Moniter Tandy DMP 130 A Printer If you know of software which may conform to the above, or close to those specs, please leave a message for us. Wwe We also need a more so Thank you very Much: 76447,166 Charles L. Mallory There is 1 Reply. #: 9806 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 11:45:16 Sb: #9800-NEED OS9 Term Prog Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Charles L. Mallory 76447,166 (X) Best for use with Compuserve is Sterm version 1.3. Handles BPlus protocol, which is optimal for file xfers here. Also manages X modem, and possibly another. For the minimalist, Xcom9 is best. Fast, small, and handles Xmodem. I doubt you'll get more than 2400 baud service out of a coco3 running os9/LII. Interrupt response time, buffering problems, and inherent limitations of the hardware require special attention and adjustment to get any faster. Pete #: 9801 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 14-Mar-91 22:40:31 Sb: #9793-#Ultimusic os9 Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Uh... well, you can CHAnge the description of the file yourself, Denise. Just BROWse the file, and at the download prompt, enter: CHA (for CHAnge). If it's not too much trouble, though, the easiest thing might be just to re-upload the file as it should have been. Wayne There is 1 Reply. #: 9812 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 19:04:26 Sb: #9801-#Ultimusic os9 Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Wayne Day 76703,376 (X) Thanks, Actually the file is intact, just missing the bar at the end for good vus visual effects is all. All of my access to Compuserve is long distance, so I pay "dearly" for the privelege of using it. All access numbers close by are. Even tynet and such. Im not sure if the Compuserve 1-800 number is cheaper or not? There is 1 Reply. #: 9820 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 06:56:53 Sb: #9812-#Ultimusic os9 Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 (X) Denise, the end bar is not just visual; without it the note(s) in the last measure do not play. Perhaps just a change in the description could be added (or is this what you were asking Wayne to do?). Ches. There is 1 Reply. #: 9822 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 11:25:16 Sb: #9820-Ultimusic os9 Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: Ches Looney 73016,1336 (X) The last measure has only the first eigth note showing. After that, there is only rests to fill the last measure. All you need to do is add a end bar. Yes, I was asking Wayne to change the message to read that the entire score was there, only the bar was missing. He replied to me that all I need to do is do a Bro to the file and reply CHA to change the descript message. Interesting, Compuserve dosen't tell us how to change a file message once it's uploaded, but Wayne did. Might make note of this if you want to change file upload messages. Later, Denise #: 9803 S1/General Interest 15-Mar-91 01:09:09 Sb: CoCoPRO!/Alpha Software Fm: Dave Myers 71750,210 To: all Mar. 14, 1991 For Immediate Release CoCoPRO! Products is pleased to announce the acquisition of Alpha Software Technologies and their fine line of OS-9/6809 software products. Included in the new lineup are Data Windows (full-featured database), Data Merger (mail-merger for use with Data Windows and/or your favorite wordprocessor), Presto Partner (RAM-resident desktop accessory package), Disk Manager Tree (complete control over directory structures), Multi-Menu (easily creates pop-down menus for Multivue), OS-9 Level 2 BBS (complete, ready-to-use bulletin board system), The Zapper (disk zapper for OS-9 lv. 1 or 2), and Level II Tools (25 useful tools to make your computing life easier). We are also pleased to announce the planned introduction (at the Chicago Rainbowfest) of a new OS-9/6809 product, II Tools II. This product will consist of a SECOND set of 25 useful tools and utilities for OS-9 lv 2, written by Keith Alphonso with the user's computing convenience in mind. This package will offer a great amount of flexibility to the OS-9 user, at an exceptional price for the value recieved. In other related announcements, we are excited to announce that in addition to our OS-9/6809 line (the abovementioned products, plus those of Burke & Burke and other vendors), we will be introducing a line of OS-9/68000 software in the very near future. Planned introductions include OSk versions of several of the Alpha Software products mentioned above, as well as a special OSk Tools package. For those users who own and are comfortable with the OS-9 versions of these products, the OSk versions will provide familiar software on a hardware platform which may be somewhat new to the user...and for those who do not own the OS-9 versions, this product line will offer time-tested utility to the relatively uncluttered OSk landscape. For product and purchasing information, as well as OSk product availibility, feel free to contact CoCoPRO! Products at (313) 481-3283 1-9 PM EST Mon-Fri, 1-7 PM Sat. a #: 9810 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 18:49:03 Sb: #satellite upgrade Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: All Hello all, I have a hardware/soldering type question. I just acquired the satellite upgrade baord for the multipak. The wires on that thing are really thin. Question is, do I have to strip the ends a bit before soldering? If yes, is there a recommended procedure other than wire cutters/strippers? I think wire strippers would just break the wires since they're so delicate. This will be my first hardware "hacking" other than creating myself an rs232 cable and installing the 512K upgrade. Hugo There are 2 Replies. #: 9815 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 22:52:01 Sb: #9810-#satellite upgrade Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Hugo - You could just use the blades of a pair of dikes (diagonal cutters) or even a knife. For really thin wires, I sometimes use the stripper built into those little wire wrap tools. Pete There is 1 Reply. #: 9833 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 09:53:20 Sb: #9815-satellite upgrade Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thanks for the reply Pete! (re: wire stripping) Hugo #: 9821 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 10:06:58 Sb: #9810-#satellite upgrade Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Hugo, If you have an enamel coated wire, one way to strip them is with some sandpaper. You could use a knife too scrape a little test spot on one of the ends, too see if it is just an enamel coating or not. Larry There is 1 Reply. #: 9834 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 09:54:11 Sb: #9821-#satellite upgrade Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X) The wires do look like they're coated. Thanks for the suggestion. Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9842 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 16:06:57 Sb: #9834-#satellite upgrade Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 (X) Hugo, Yea, sandpaper works pretty good on enameled wires, you don't run the chance of nicking the wires. Another process I have used is to run the wire through the flame of a match or lighter. This will burn the insulation off, leaving a charred residue on the wire that can be easily removed. I only do the flame trick as a last resort because I don't know if heating the wire up like that weakens it or makes it brittle. Maybe someone with more or a metallurgy background would know for sure. larry There are 2 Replies. #: 9853 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 18-Mar-91 00:53:15 Sb: #9842-#satellite upgrade Fm: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X) RE: using the flame method.....I learned about using flame to get insulation off wires in the army setting up commo equipment. As a matter of fact, its the only method I use cause its so easy. You just have to make sure that the flame doesn't stay on the wire too long (ie about 3 sec) or else some of the metal might lose some of its conducting capability. A good way to be careful is to watch the insulation. As soon as it starts to melt, that is long enough. The insulation can then be easily pulled off the wire. --Dave There is 1 Reply. #: 9861 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 19-Mar-91 09:53:39 Sb: #9853-satellite upgrade Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: DAVID DE FEO 71630,721 David, I have to agree that if it is done carefully the flame method is in some cases much better. A very slight nick in a vibration prone wire will cause more problems then the damage that might be done to the wire by heating it. Larry #: 9858 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 18-Mar-91 19:20:14 Sb: #9842-#satellite upgrade Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X) As of yesterday, I installed the satellite board and the whole computer still works! (pat on back). By the way, I ended up using a pocket knife to slice the insulation off, it was plastic. Thanks for your reply, though. Hugo There is 1 Reply. #: 9862 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 19-Mar-91 10:00:57 Sb: #9858-satellite upgrade Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 Hugo, Thats great, Success stories are always welcome news. #: 9813 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 15-Mar-91 19:19:16 Sb: Gshell+ Fm: Denise Tomlinson 71021,3274 To: [F] All Where can I get Gshell+ ? Is it in the forum or is it commercial software available? I did a bro Gshell+ but didn't get anything in Lib 10. Thanks, Denise #: 9818 S4/MIDI and Music 16-Mar-91 06:20:02 Sb: MIDIPACK Fm: Everett Chimbidis 76370,1366 To: 76476,464 Do you need a midipack to use you midi files? #: 9823 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 14:20:33 Sb: #Gfx2-Help Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 To: All GFX2-Help Needed I have been working on some ce to run under the upgraded GFX2. What I want to do is: 1. Open an overlay window. 2. Direct a path to it. 3. Create either a framed window with scroll bars, or one without. This would be similar to gport under Multi_Vue. I keep getting 189-Illegal co-ordinates errors. Is it possible to open an over lay window and start another procedure in it that would have its own menu bar, etc. Then when finished could you return to the first window. I have tried to right the code but with no luck. Also is there any way to have a split/screen with several procedures running at the same time? Thank you, Brother Jeremy, CSJW There is 1 Reply. #: 9825 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 18:05:50 Sb: #9823-#Gfx2-Help Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 (X) Keep in mind that any MV window has at least a one character border all the way around the screen. If you try to do this, for example, RUN gfx2("owset",1,0,0,80,24,2,0), it won't work. There is 1 Reply. #: 9832 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 23:37:16 Sb: #9825-#Gfx2-Help Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 (X) I will try that. What I would like to be able to do is similar to what can be done on a MAC. Open an overlay with scroll bars, move up and down on it, click on whatever. Close the overlay, and return to the original window. Can this be done under OS9 on the COCO3? There is 1 Reply. #: 9843 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 17:42:31 Sb: #9832-#Gfx2-Help Fm: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 To: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 (X) I have opened up an overlay and have establish another MV window in it. However I have never had any luck with the scroll bars working in an overlay. I'll mess around with it again and let you know what I come up with. Floyd There are 2 Replies. #: 9846 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 21:14:27 Sb: #9843-Gfx2-Help Fm: Brother Jeremy, CSJW 76477,142 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 Thank you for your response. I will keep trying also, and I will let you know what I can come up with. I hope that maybe someone else will have some ideas here on CIS. With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW #: 9851 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 22:08:23 Sb: #9843-Gfx2-Help Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Floyd Resler 72500,2572 Yeah, there's a bug in windint having to do with calculating the offsets of overlay controls... like scrollbars. Only an overlay in the upper left corner will work for those right now. One solution: draw your own controls! #: 9828 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 20:06:14 Sb: #MULTI-VUE Fm: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 To: ALL I just acquired Multi-Vue from Radio Shack at a nice low price :-) Now I have a question. Can it be used to run any other programs besides its own? If I try to run another program like a game or anything that did not come on the MV disk, it doesn't work. Also some of the files ON that disk won't run either. A small blue window will pull down from the center of the screen and then I'll get errors. So far I've asked myself - WHY did I buy this? What GOOD is it? I'm hoping that some of you will have the expertise with this thing to help me out!! Thanx, Bob There is 1 Reply. #: 9829 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 16-Mar-91 20:45:03 Sb: #9828-#MULTI-VUE Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 (X) Read up on how to set up aif files to run applications, and check out some of the examples here in DL 10. (While you're at it, I'd seriously recommend grabbing Kent Meyers's patches to gshell.) There is 1 Reply. #: 9841 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 15:06:30 Sb: #9829-MULTI-VUE Fm: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) Thanx very much, James! I definitely will do all the things that you mentioned. Last night, after posting that message, I read further and noticed the section on AIF files and I wondered if they were the key. But I thought I would wait for a reply here from someone who KNEW what they were doing :-) Is it just me? Or are all the manuals that Tandy put out for OS-9 about as clear as MUD?? I say this because when I first got into OS-9 itself, I had about a million questions! So I was just wondering, is it me (am I THAT dumb?), or are the manuals confusing for a beginner? Thanx a million again, James, for your advice!! Bob #: 9830 S1/General Interest 16-Mar-91 22:33:52 Sb: Order Fm: Butch Mooney 76702,1126 To: Dave Myers 71750,210 Hi Dave, I have tried to access your BBS as I have done before to place a order and was unable to. I typed COCOPRO at login but couldn't get past the password. Has something been changed? Butch Mooney #: 9837 S3/Languages 17-Mar-91 10:51:59 Sb: #termcap.l docs? Fm: Ken Drexler 75126,3427 To: Pete Lyall Pete, I am trying to write a terminal independent clearscreen function in c and want to use your termcap library from Mark Griffith's sterm package. I have grabbed the unix termcap manual posted here but it does not have the special functions you added to get around the lack of an environment under 6809/OS9. Also from reading sterm.c, the parameters for each function do not seem to correspond to the unix manual page. Have you posted the documents for your version of the tercap.l or a header file for use with it? If so, where should I look? Thanks for the help. Ken There is 1 Reply. #: 9855 S3/Languages 18-Mar-91 11:23:49 Sb: #9837-termcap.l docs? Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Ken Drexler 75126,3427 Ken - As far as the termcap.l stuff, the biggest thing that changes is that if you don't allocate a buffer for the tgetent() function, you may use a NULL and a buffer will be auto-allocated for you. I used it this way for convenience, but there may be some memory allocation bugs. Simmy Turner took to just allocating the buffers manually. As far as the ttytype file, see the 'update' command, if it's here. My 6809 stuff is offline, but I could get to it if you have no other paths. Essentially, the ttytype file looks like this: [+|-|@]devname crttype There may be multiple lines, one per device. The syntax is: + = enabled local terminal @ = enabled modem based terminal - = disabled terminal ..WHOOPS! I just realized I'm combining two descriptions here! One is the 'ttylist' file associated with Mtsmon, and the other is ttytype.. sorry! The layout is just: /devname crt_type /t2 vt100 /w1 coco3 /t3 wyse50 etc. The file may be in /dd/sys or /r0/sys (latter is faster), and is manipulated with a utility I called 'ttyset', which should be in DL9. Sorry about the confusion, and toggle me if you need to be further confused! Pete #: 9838 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 17-Mar-91 12:00:05 Sb: CM-8 $85.00 UPS incl. Fm: Mike Passer 72750,420 To: All Need an economical display alternative for your Coco III? Radio Shack CM-8 RGB monitor for sale... Yours for $85.00 including UPS ground shipping within the 48 contiguous states. Please leave email to 72750,420 or call (203) 445-2285 before 8:30 pm evenings Eastern Standard Time. Have a good one, Mike Passer #: 9839 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 14:26:11 Sb: #Inside OS9 Level II Fm: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 To: Kevin Darling Kevin, Have been trying to get a copy of your book "Inside OS9 Level II". Microcom said it was out of print when I called and to try at a later date. I called back a month later and was told that they have a lot of requests for this book but they still don't have any. Know of another source? Paul There is 1 Reply. #: 9850 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 21:38:42 Sb: #9839-Inside OS9 Level II Fm: Lee Veal 74726,1752 To: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 Frank Hogg Labs had them for a while. They might yet. Lee #: 9840 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 14:27:58 Sb: #Remote terminal Fm: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 To: Bruce Isted , Pete Lyall Was reading the message string about tsmon and saw that you require a different driver SACIA instead of ACIAPAK. Where can I get this? Also, here is what I want to do; I have an IBM compatible in another room which I want to hook to my Coco3 via the RS232 ports. I have a multipack with an RS232pak connected to a modem and will get another RS232pak for this remote terminal. Is it possible with a configuration like this to somehow pipeline the modem through OS9 and out to the remote terminal where the remote can do an X-modem download at 2400 baud using its own program timing? When using tsmon with a IBM PC on the other end, what keys generate an escape in OS9 ? Hope you can help with this, Thanks, Paul There are 2 Replies. #: 9849 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 17-Mar-91 21:15:14 Sb: #9840-Remote terminal Fm: Bruce Isted 76625,2273 To: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 ~ Paul, You'll find the SACIA driver in my esw110.ar package, available here on CIS in this forum's CoCo OS-9 data library. You can hook your CoCo up to a PC, but you will need to modify the 2nd RS-232 Pak to work at a different address, even though the two RS-232 Paks are plugged into different MPI slots. There is a text file that describes how to do this, but I don't know where it is or what it is called... maybe BRO/KEY:RS232 in the appropriate LIBs will turn it up. You may also want to install the "MPI IRQ Hack" to allow both RS-232 Paks to be IRQ driven. The "MPI IRQ Hack" is described in the manual in esw110.ar, as well as in other files available for DL here. If you're using a serial port descriptor that is set up with "standard" OS-9 values, you'll find that the PC's Esc is CONTROL-BREAK (ESCAPE), Ctrl-E is BREAK, and Ctrl-C is SHIFT-BREAK. Bruce #: 9856 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 18-Mar-91 11:28:09 Sb: #9840-Remote terminal Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Paul Rinear 73757,1413 Paul - I used to do that when I had the Gimix hooked up. I had 6 terminals and 2 modems connected. I also had a PC in the studio, attached by serial line to the Gimix. I'd log into the gimix using Procomm to make the PC look like a VT100, and then use Sterm on the gimix to dial into cis. I'd use Kermit to transfer files between the two boxes. You could probably also write a very simple pass-thru utility, but it gets complicated when you try to figure out how to pass out of band information, like how to disconnect, for example. Pete #: 9844 S8/BBS Systems/TSMon 17-Mar-91 17:48:42 Sb: Help with LogIn Fm: Jeff Dugas 74746,3412 To: 76070,41 Mark, I downloaded your LogIn utilities and am having some problems setting it up. My problem is with the ADDUSER utility. When I run it it accesses /dd for a moment then asks for the username and UID. After answering the prompts, it reports "adding new user ..." and then ends (I'm back to the shell). I gathered from the docs that it was supposed to create the necessary files and generally "set things up". Do I need to create any files/directories before running ADDUSER? -Jeff #: 9845 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 17-Mar-91 21:11:00 Sb: #The MM/1 Serial Port! Fm: Keith H. March 70541,1413 To: all Hello: Can any one tell me how to hook up my CoCo 3 to a MM/1 a hundred sixty feet away? I would like to run spreadsheets, word processors, graphics programs from the CoCo. Any Help would be greatly appreached Throught the MM/1 RS-232 port , Serial or Parallel ? Thanks for the HELP. Keith H. March There are 2 Replies. #: 9854 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 18-Mar-91 05:59:21 Sb: #9845-The MM/1 Serial Port! Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Keith H. March 70541,1413 At 160 feet you may run into problems. The RS-232 standard says no more than fifty feet--this constraint is present because if a serial device puts out a signal that is just within specs, past that distance it isn't usable. A place I used to work had trouble with that once: we had terminals hooked up over a distance of fifty feet or a bit over, and they worked just fine, but a lab instrument with RS-232 out was flaky. A friend with more hardware knowledge than me or my boss hooked up an oscilloscope, and one could see very easily the effects of cable capacitance and resistance. Smoothed that signal right out into mush. One can get special low-capacitance cable for longer serial runs, though I don't recall how far one can go with it. #: 9857 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 18-Mar-91 11:30:32 Sb: #9845-The MM/1 Serial Port! Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Keith H. March 70541,1413 Keith - While the serial spec (well, RS-232C) states a maximum length of 50 feet, I regularly get away with many times that. Had runs in my old house that were in excess of 200 feet, and I have been to sites where customers run lines approaching 1000 feet. Pete #: 9863 S4/MIDI and Music 19-Mar-91 15:25:08 Sb: #New Keyboard Advice Fm: Mark Wuest 74030,332 To: all Hi, all. I am seeking advice about a keyboard I plan to buy my wife. She wants to learn to play piano, and I thought an electronic keyboard would be a good way to let both of us see how serious we are. I have only $500 budgeted. Do you guys have any suggestions? Thanks! Mark There is 1 Reply. #: 9864 S4/MIDI and Music 19-Mar-91 16:39:31 Sb: #9863-New Keyboard Advice Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: Mark Wuest 74030,332 (X) Mark - Some questions back at you: Do you want it to be MIDI capable? (highly recommended, and most are) Do you want full sized keys? (also recommended) Do you want it to be multi-timbral (be able to play many instruments at once, i.e. piano, flute, drums, etc.)? Best bet would be to get something on the lines of a Roland D5 or D10, or possibly a Kawai K1 or K1-II. The used market has the K1's at under $450 frequently, the D5 may also be near that point (discounted) new. Two suggestions: a) Check out the local for sale rags... we have the Recycler here in LA, and have 4-5 PAGES each week of used musical equipment for sale, mostly priced aggressively. b) Type GO MAO (Music Alley Online...a music store here on CIS) and leave a note for Jamie Robertson. Lots of folks have bought (new) stuff from Jamie at incredible prices (self included). He's also very friendly, and helpful. Telling what you're looking for, and what your dollar cap is, and I'm sure he can provide some suggestions. He's very well thought of on both the MIDI Forum and on USENET's rec.music.synth group. Also, pop over to the MIDI Forum and ask questions. Very active forum over there, and probably every piece of musical gear available has passed through _somebody's_ hands over there. You'll get the straight skinny on what performs well, and what doesn't. Lastly - worst thing you can do is walk into your local music store uninitiated... The prices posted are fictitious. There's list price, the posted price, and then there's what the dealer will REALLY sell it for (typically 20-30% below list, sometimes lower). Have your facts together, your reviews read, and know what the going prices are (approximately). If you have a reasonable music dealer, he'll come to know you andwill give you the discounted price w/o asking once you're a regular. Pete Press !>