#: 12813 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 02-Nov-91 12:24:08 Sb: #12779-Wild Weather Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Still verrrry soggy... and cold. Had a cold front go through day before yesterday, and it was 30 this morning when I got off work at 3:00AM. It HAD warmed up to 35 at 10 AM, though, when we stood out in it for an hour and a half watching Jason's soccer game. Brrrrr.. #: 12814 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 02-Nov-91 17:13:16 Sb: #OS9 F$Fork Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: all I was wondering if someone could shed some light on a problem I have run into with the OS9 F$Fork call. If when calling the Fork, everything works ok and the fork is done to the process, but at some point that process comes up with an error. How do report back to the parent what the error was. As an example, say you used F$Fork to run the Copy command, the Copy command asks for and gets its parameters then tries to do the copy, but at that point it gets an error like #216 (path name not found). The error number doesn't seem to be passed back to the parent. How can you grab that error number ? Scratching head in Michigan ..... There are 2 Replies. #: 12822 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 00:11:21 Sb: #12814-#OS9 F$Fork Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 (X) Larry - off the top of my head, I believe the F$Wait call will return with the exit status of a dead child. You can do this at any time, btw... child proc descriptors are kept around even after the child dies... and are only given up when the parent exits (and thus, could no longer do an F$Wait). There is 1 Reply. #: 12824 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 01:21:59 Sb: #12822-#OS9 F$Fork Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin, This is a program my brother is working on and I don't have the code here to check, but I believe the way he is doing the fork is like the example on page 188 of the Complete Guide to OS9(white book). He is doing the: os9 F$Fork lbcs error os9 F$Wait Are you saying that an - lbcs error - after the F$Wait will catch the child process error ? Ok, (waiting for the hand print on forehead to disappear), I in the description for the F$Wait call, that the B reg contains the child exit status code or error code if any. I can't remember if we tried that last weekend or not, we were trying alot of different things and getting alot of strange error codes. Thanks Kevin, we'll give it a shot. There is 1 Reply. #: 12827 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 07:02:06 Sb: #12824-OS9 F$Fork Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 GRIN. Yep, it's amazing what the manuals _do_ contain, sometimes :-) :-) That's alright. I can't count the number of times I slapped my own forehead :-) #: 12829 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 07:29:08 Sb: #12814-OS9 F$Fork Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 F$Wait will let you know the child's exit status. #: 12815 S1/General Interest 02-Nov-91 17:49:10 Sb: #Hard drives Fm: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 To: Bruce Isted What type drives (hard) will work best with the eliminator and the wd1005 SCSI, SASI, IDE, AT type, MFM or RLL. My two 10meg's are getting crowded. And I would like to put all files on one single drive. Joerg 74016,631 x/ex There are 2 Replies. #: 12821 S1/General Interest 02-Nov-91 19:38:01 Sb: #12815-Hard drives Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 (X) Joerg, Last time I talked to Bruce (a couple of months ago) he'd stopped dropping in here because of problems accessing whatever net he was using to get reasonable rates here. Maybe you should call him or try one of the other services. #: 12840 S1/General Interest 03-Nov-91 11:26:06 Sb: #12815-Hard drives Fm: BILL HEALTON 73367,357 To: JOERG SATTLER 74016,631 Joerg - The WD1002-05 (I believe this is the proper Eliminator controller) supported only MFM type Hard Drives (I believe there was a maximum of 3). I had worked up an interface and driver to use this same WD card, but switched over to Bruces when he first introduced th HCA (Eliminator predecessor). I switched to Atari ST about 2.5 years ago, but may still have some info on the WD card around. I am sure it only supported MFM. I also think there may have been a 1024 cylinder limit. Bill Healton 73367,357 #: 12816 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 02-Nov-91 18:07:50 Sb: #12805-#MM/1 AND NY ZOOM MODEM Fm: Keith H. March 70541,1413 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kevin: That is not all the problem, sometimes even if the keyboard get iniz right, it still does it. As I'm typing this it is working fine, but more than likely the next time I try to use this STERM it won't work. I don't know about this computer! It sound like it is in the software, Am I correct? Or is it the MM/1? Keith There are 2 Replies. #: 12823 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 03-Nov-91 00:13:41 Sb: #12816-#MM/1 AND NY ZOOM MODEM Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Keith H. March 70541,1413 (X) Keith, perhaps it's more what we were talking about the other night... that one control line still isn't tied where it needs to be on the 9-25pin adapter. And sometimes it floats? No, that can't be it. Sigh. Remember, I'm not a serial person . Better to ask everyone else: what should a 9-25pin modem adapter look like for the MM/1 /t0 port? Guys? There is 1 Reply. #: 12830 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 03-Nov-91 07:31:27 Sb: #12823-MM/1 AND NY ZOOM MODEM Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 I just bought a generic PClone DB-9 to DB-25 cable, and it seems to work fine on my MM/1 hooked to /t0. #: 12841 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 03-Nov-91 11:59:36 Sb: #12816-MM/1 AND NY ZOOM MODEM Fm: John R. Wainwright 72517,676 To: Keith H. March 70541,1413 (X) Keith, I'm not sure I understand the problem you are having, but if it is a "lockup" type condition right after you "CONNECT", read on. When logging on to CIS or TYMNET, something in the first few characters that come in are causing my term to lockup on the MM/1. This happens with every terminal program I have tried (COM, KERMIT, STERM, and now TASCOM - the MM/1 version of OSTERM). In conversations with a couple other MM/1 owners I have heard the same problem hits them. IMS is aware of the problem - new drivers are supposed to fix it soon. Meanwhile, here's what works: Lock the DTR on in your modem (either by setting the proper DIP switch, or the AT&D command if it will take it). After connection is made, EXIT the com program and restart it. This seems to put the driver back together (to explain exactly what is going wrong, and why this fixes it, you need somebody smarter than me). Give it a try. John Wainwright #: 12817 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 02-Nov-91 18:19:09 Sb: Problems with my MM/1 Fm: Keith H. March 70541,1413 To: WAYNE DAY 76703,376 Wayne: I have a problem with my MM/1: Problem # 1: Sometimes when I power up, if I do a SHIFT 8 I'll not get a '*' What causes this problem? Problem # 2: NOTE TO THE FIRST PROBLEM: The SHIFT KEY does not seam to work at all. When I iniz /r0 <-- This is OK Then load STERM VER. 1.5 OK so far. When I am in STERM, if I issue a AT Command to the modem it will send a OK back sometimes, but most of the time it will not (the modem is takeing the commands though) What cause it to NOT echo the chars. back to the screen (I have the same setup all the time) The modem works fine with WIZPRO on the COCO 3 512K I can issue a ATDS=0 (0=cis number) It will log onto CIS BUT I WILL NOT receive a char(s) back from the CIS computers, WHY? Keith Please HELP! #: 12818 S15/Hot Topics 02-Nov-91 18:49:35 Sb: #MM/1 delivery Fm: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166 To: Paul K. Ward - IMS Hi all... Anybody know how to contact Paul Ward? My Visa was billed for my MM/1 on October 4, but still no computer (as of November 2). I've called IMS many times and left 2 messages. I'd like to know if it's been shipped, and if so, how and when! If it hasn't been shipped, why have I been billed? Hey Paul! Answer your phone!!! There is 1 Reply. #: 12837 S15/Hot Topics 03-Nov-91 10:42:24 Sb: #12818-#MM/1 delivery Fm: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754 To: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166 (X) There was a message similar to yours on Delphi a couple of weeks ago (only his was a tad more 'threatening'....grin) The guy did leave back a message later that he had indeed received his MM/1 about 6 weeks after his credit card was charged for the computer (sans I/O board) PKW apparently did call this guy up (after numerous phone calls) and said he was sorry for the delay. Hope this helps squelch your fears... jim Sutemeier There is 1 Reply. #: 12842 S15/Hot Topics 03-Nov-91 12:54:48 Sb: #12837-MM/1 delivery Fm: GLEN HATHAWAY 71446,166 To: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754 Hi Jim... I just thought that if the machine was shipped on the 4th via UPS, it would be here by now - I was worried that UPS might have the wrong number or whatever and couldn't find me to deliver. If it takes 6 weeks... I guess I have to wait a couple more weeks, huh? Damn! #: 12819 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 02-Nov-91 19:37:37 Sb: #12801-Termcap and Basic Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) re >>> RUN Termcap("Init",ADDR(storage))... Yes, that will work. The only problem with this is that you'd have to pass 'storage' around to all your submodules. But, no matter what we do, I guess something like that would have to be done. Too bad about no globals in Basic. I think I'll take a break from some other stuff and play with this termcap thing--I've spent too much time thinking about and not enough coding! I'm not even sure why I'm even worried about it since I do so little programming in Basic ! #: 12820 S3/Languages 02-Nov-91 19:37:50 Sb: #12812-OS9 Assembly Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Bert Schneider 70244,427 Thanks for the number. I'll give them a call first think monday. #: 12833 S3/Languages 03-Nov-91 10:21:50 Sb: #12787-OS9 Assembly Fm: Jim Peasley 72726,1153 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 Bob; Signetics has lots of literature that they'd like to send you! :-) I asked for info on the 68070, 66470 (VSC), and the I^C interface and they sent me about 4 lbs. of manuals and brochures. 68070 User manual part I - hardware : everything you always wanted to know about the CPU chip. 68070 User manual part II - software : Instructions, timings, I^C data, DMA specs, MMU stuff, and more. 66470 Video/System Controller : programming examples, PIXAC data, etc. Signetics 811 E. Arques Ave. P.O. Box 3409 Sunnyvale, CA. 94088-3409 (408) 991-2000 I talked to an Application Engineer named Bill Houghton (X 3560) who was very helpful when I told him what I wanted to do. They have offices all over the world - you may want to contact the one in Ontario - Signetics Canada Ltd. 1 Eva Road Suite 411 Etobicoke, Ontario M9C 4Z5 (416) 626-6676 Hope this helps, ...Jim #: 12825 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 04:49:01 Sb: ST-296N Harddrive Fm: Michael J. Hebert 70640,3556 To: Anyone Has anyone had any luck using an ST-296N with the Disto 4-in-1? When I try to format it I cannot get it to accept 256 byte sectors with the RS-DOS basic FMTSGTN.BAS program. Tried to format it with OS-9 and seemed to work when I specified format with verify but would not work with verify off. #: 12826 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 06:53:09 Sb: #12802-#CoCo 3 terminal Fm: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 To: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 (X) Kev, If that is the case then OS-9 calling itself a "multi-tasking, _multi-user_ " sytem is a misnomer, a lie ! It seems to me that if it was truly multi-user, then you could run anything from a terminal, although maybe I'm mistaken. Could you explain to me what good it is to access OS-9 thru a terminal if you can't run any programs?? In other words, what useful things could I do by accessing thru a term? Just trying to explore the fullest possibilities of the system... Thanx once again! Bob There are 2 Replies. #: 12828 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 07:11:04 Sb: #12826-CoCo 3 terminal Fm: Kevin Darling 76703,4227 To: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 Bob - ah. But you can run a lot of non-graphics programs remotely. Think of it like being on CompuServe... it's a huge multi-user system, but it isn't graphics-system-independent. It uses characters. Umm. Bad example, actually. There are lots of programs for OS-9 (mostly commercial, like databases spreadsheets editors etc) which will run from a remote terminal. For that matter, you can run Basic09 non-gfx programs or anything else which is character oriented. Fancier programs look up a terminal description file (termcap/termset) to be able to do slightly more: like clearing your screen, moving the cursor around, and so forth. Very similar to Unix systems in fact. The problem with gfx under OS-9 is, there's no standard system yet. Ummm. Well, I think MW will be selling X-Window system driver portpaks and libraries for 68K systems. A lot of people here run almost everything from character terminals. Perhaps they'll chime in, as I'm typing this realtime and am sleepy . #: 12839 S10/OS9/6809 (CoCo) 03-Nov-91 10:48:04 Sb: #12826-CoCo 3 terminal Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 To: Bob Archambault 76506,3544 Bob, Kev's right on target (as usual). I have my CoCo 3 set up in the basement with two modems and two terminals hung off the 4 serial ports I'm using. One modem (two phone lines) handles incomming calls (I shuttle a lot of files from my home office to my office office as well as have a number of regular guests logging in), the other modem is outbound. One tube is in my home office (I'm on that now), the other is on the screened porch so I can enjoy the warmer temps. With a normal session, it's not unsusual for me to be logged in on one tube running Dynacalc, the neighbor's kid downstairs on the CM8 playing some game (because of the grfx requirements) while the other tube is spitting out status reports of some process I've started hours ago. If that ain't mutli-user, I'm not sure I'd understand the concept. As Kev mentioned, the reason you can't run some of your games on your remote terminal is a issue dealing with the remote terminal. It just can't handle the graphic sequences required. I have a number of character based games that work just dandy either on the local tubes or even across the modem line. Hope this helps some, Steve #: 12831 S1/General Interest 03-Nov-91 07:32:29 Sb: #12807-INTERNET Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 Thanks, Pete. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO #: 12832 S1/General Interest 03-Nov-91 07:33:23 Sb: #12810-#INTERNET Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 (X) Thanks, Steve. Sent my message - hope I didn't screw up. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO There is 1 Reply. #: 12836 S1/General Interest 03-Nov-91 10:31:50 Sb: #12832-INTERNET Fm: Steve Wegert 76703,4255 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 Ed, I have an account with Washington University that now sends me the LIST (rather than filling my CIS mail box to the hilt). I'll watch for it. Steve #: 12834 S15/Hot Topics 03-Nov-91 10:22:09 Sb: #12746-updates? Fm: Jim Peasley 72726,1153 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 Ed; Can you tell me a bit more about the programmer's package for G-windows? Sounds like just the ticket! Thanks, ...Jim #: 12835 S15/Hot Topics 03-Nov-91 10:22:29 Sb: #12726-#uploads Fm: Jim Peasley 72726,1153 To: Frank Hogg of FHL 70310,317 Frank; G-Windows sounds interesting - do you know if it'll run on an MM/1? Also, what about price and availability? Thanks, ...Jim There is 1 Reply. #: 12838 S15/Hot Topics 03-Nov-91 10:45:57 Sb: #12835-uploads Fm: Jim Sutemeier 70673,1754 To: Jim Peasley 72726,1153 Frank just posted a message on Delphi, prob'ly will do same here. In his agreement with Gespac, Frank has bought the rights to port GWindows over to not only the TC70, but also to the MM/1. I know for a fact that this port has not yet been done, so price and availability is not exista existent at this time. (You cannot buy GWindows for the TC70 and it will run on the MM/1 - a port defintely has to be made due to mouse configs, addresses, etc.) jim Sutemeier #: 12843 S5/OS9 Users Group 03-Nov-91 13:31:57 Sb: #Help! Need Reference. Fm: Daniel Cyran 73750,1020 To: All Can anyone recommend a few good and easy reference books on the OS/9 operating system. Thanks, Dan There is 1 Reply. #: 12844 S5/OS9 Users Group 03-Nov-91 13:50:18 Sb: #12843-Help! Need Reference. Fm: Erich Schulman 75140,3175 To: Daniel Cyran 73750,1020 I'd recommend The Rainbow Guide to OS-9 and its sequel for Level II. If you are using Level II some of the older book's things may not work for you but it's still a good source. Both books have optional disks that will spare you from typing in everything. I only have the Level II book and it's helped me a great deal. If you're interested in Basic-09, Rainbow's Basic-09 Tour Guide is another to get, and it too has a disk. If you have any copies of Rainbow around, the order form is in there (though the prices may not be current if you're looking at an old issue). Your loacl Radio Shack may have a copy or two lying around, so go there first. Press !>