83176 19-NOV 20:01 OSK Applications RE: MM/1 Game Control (Re: Msg 83101) From: ROYBUR To: MREGC ROFL! THAT was good for the ol' endorphin level! 8*).........roy -*- 83177 19-NOV 20:25 General Information RE: 80 track drives (Re: Msg 83163) From: MITHELEN To: ISC Yes.. High Densitiy Drives still have 80 tracks/side. Bt, on the MM/1 (at least) they have 37 sectors/track instead of 18... -*- 83184 19-NOV 22:16 General Information RE: 80 track drives (Re: Msg 83177) From: ISC To: MITHELEN Ah, 37 sectors per track would answer the question. Thanks. I just keep learning. Bill -*- 83194 20-NOV 00:37 General Information RE: 80 track drives (Re: Msg 83142) From: ROYBUR To: ISC if you're talking about those old single-sided 80-track drives (5.25") that i've seen advertised once or twice - usu. _very_ cheap, even then! - then i think the answer is no, they are hardware-incompatible with the coco. you could ask marty goodman as a double-check on that, though, since i think that he mentioned that in a Rainbow article or column; it was a while back! you already have the software answer from a couple other people. ....roy -*- 83232 20-NOV 22:43 General Information RE: 80 track drives (Re: Msg 83194) From: ISC To: ROYBUR Thanks, Roy. Bill -*- End of Thread. -*- 83178 19-NOV 20:35 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83170) From: PHILSCHERER To: ALWAGNER Hi Al--I haven't heard that there is any change in B&B. -*- 83201 20-NOV 06:54 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83178) From: ALWAGNER To: PHILSCHERER I hadn't either, it's just that I don't tend to keep up with such things. Thanks again for the help. -*- 83212 20-NOV 12:47 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83144) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: ALWAGNER if your a coco user.... burke & burkes file system repack, i have an extra copy for sale if they no longer have it -*- 83241 21-NOV 07:48 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83212) From: ALWAGNER To: MIKE_GUZZI thanks for the offer. I'll keep you in mind. -*- 83299 23-NOV 03:45 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83144) From: DGANTZ To: ALWAGNER Al, what you need is either Burke & Burke's REPACK or CBM utilitity. They both re-organize your drive a bit and clean up fragmentation. I think CBM only cleans up fragmentation in the bit map while repack cleans up both the bitmap and the physical as well as logical fragmentation, un- fragmenting files as well as the drive itself. CBM is faster, but repack is probably more complete. See if you can find either utility, both work with floppies as well as hard drives. Good luck. Dave -*- 83363 25-NOV 06:56 Applications (6809) RE: Hard Drive Fragmentation (Re: Msg 83299) From: ALWAGNER To: DGANTZ (NR) Thanks for the help. It seems B&B's repack is the way to go. Now to convince the minister of finance (read that 'my wife') of the requirement. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83179 19-NOV 21:01 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 81616) From: CLTUCKER To: AYUSKO Thks. AYUSKO. I,ll try the KBCOMM. (:-) -*- 83555 29-NOV 22:59 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 81627) From: AYUSKO To: ISC Oh, I haven't noticed that yet. Of course if it hasn't been fixed yet, I can't offer to do it right now, my 6809 machine has a problem with the boot drive. Only happened today. Alex A. Yusko (AYUSKO) -*- 83563 30-NOV 00:55 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 83555) From: ISC To: AYUSKO (NR) Alex, Dave (MITHELEN) here has fixed the 6809 version of Sterm in the database. It now works just fine. If you try it, remember that the CoCo keyboard generates an ESC. character using CTRL + BREAK. Bill -*- 83575 30-NOV 03:39 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 83563) From: JOELHEGBERG To: ISC Bill, > Dave (MITHELEN) here has fixed the 6809 version of Sterm in the database. Um, actually, MITHELEN's name is Paul. :) But, Dave, Paul, Bill... all generic names anyways... what's the difference. -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83609 30-NOV 21:38 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 83563) From: MITHELEN To: ISC Whoops! My name isn't Dave.. it is Paul.. I do _know_ "Dave" though 8-) -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83617 1-DEC 00:25 General Information RE: KBCOM (Re: Msg 83575) From: ISC To: JOELHEGBERG Joel, There was an old saw which said "Every Tom, Dick and Harry is named John"; then there is "Old Bill", "Mr. Bill" etc. So Paul (MITHELEN), I am sorry I murdered your name, but I bow to your obvious technical ability. There. That should be better. Bill -*- End of Thread. -*- 83180 19-NOV 21:07 Programmers Den RE: OSK BASIC Syscall (Re: Msg 83106) From: THUNDERFNGRS To: TEDJAEGER Thanks I got it all worked out and incorporated into my program! I will be uploading an example of how to use syscall and julian/greg time -*- 83183 19-NOV 22:03 Programmers Den RE: OSK BASIC Syscall (Re: Msg 83180) From: TEDJAEGER To: THUNDERFNGRS Glad you got the syscall going. BTW, DeskTamer is a personal information manager about to be released by BlackHawk Enterprises. Keeps a schedule, to-do list, and provides pop-up calculator, note taker, filer, clock, etc. Written by me because since becoming a Department chair at Westminster College I have far too complicated a schedule to keep in my head! A necessity is the mother of invention thing! It's all point and click using KWindows. --Bests, --TedJaeger -*- 83314 23-NOV 18:31 Programmers Den RE: OSK BASIC Syscall (Re: Msg 83183) From: THUNDERFNGRS To: TEDJAEGER I used to like to use the calender program with deskmate on the coco. Do you think desktamer will work on my tomcat tc70 which runs kwindows? -*- 83328 23-NOV 22:15 Programmers Den RE: OSK BASIC Syscall (Re: Msg 83314) From: TEDJAEGER To: THUNDERFNGRS I am guessing but I think it would run. Makes calls to KWindows via BASIC PUT command and uses syscall to do date calculations and sleeps. Assuming consistency in the KWindows system it should go. Does require a 640X220 (? on vertical pixels) Type 0 screen which supports 16 colors on the mm1. Will let you know more as I find out! --Cheers, --TedJaeger -*- End of Thread. -*- 83181 19-NOV 21:49 General Information COCO STUFF From: RCPOLK To: ALL Greetings! Just a note to let interested parties know ... I have posted (tonite) a list in the classified "FOR SALE" section, of a few hardware items from a new COCO3, hardrive,disk drives etec. But I ran out of space and forgot to mention to send me MAIL of any offers. Would prefer money orders as payment. FROM ..(Went from MV to Windows) RICH POLK (add should show after OS9 management oks add in about two days) -*- 83182 19-NOV 21:58 Programmers Den RE: Shanghai OS-9 (Re: Msg 82964) From: CHARLESAM To: EARTHER Good luck then with your task! It won't be easy.. Please let me know how its shaping up. I'll definitely DL it as soon as its posted. Charlie -*- 83185 19-NOV 23:08 General Information substitute memory chips From: WA2EGP To: ALL Just a quick question. I've got a machine (non-OS) that I'm trying to give a memory boost. The chips in it are TMS8256. Is there another chip that can be used (possibly 41256, hope, hope.) in place of them. When I need my memory chip book, I can't find it (Darn Murphy!). Thanks for any help. -*- 83186 19-NOV 23:28 General Information RE: Old Monk, New Toys (Re: Msg 83166) From: WOAY To: DGANTZ Hi Dave; Naw, Gene Heskett. I share an acount with Jim Martin, the CE at WOAY in Oak Hill WV, about 100 miles down highway 19 from here. I'm the CE at WDTV channel 5, in Weston/Clarksburg WV. And KISS is KISS anyplace I've been. We've also been known to Simplicate a product or two, hehe. Cheers, Gene -*- 83187 19-NOV 23:32 General Information RE: Canada Stamp (Re: Msg 83136) From: CLAUDECOTE To: MRUPGRADE I have found it very beautiful. I think you have work very hard on this one. As always articles were very interesting. Bye, Claude -*- 83191 20-NOV 00:22 General Information RE: Canada Stamp (Re: Msg 83187) From: MRUPGRADE To: CLAUDECOTE I don't know if we have any philitelists in the Mid Iowa & Country CoCo, but we have a small stamp collection going by now. there's Kentucky, [Washington, Hawia, I have a Maryland somewhere,, and oh yeah,, Californai. I guess we have a few to go. That'll give me soem work ofor "The UPGRADE" this winter. ************* UPOADED VIA ULTIMATERM ************* * MRUPGRADE : Delphi * * Terry g : Graphics signature * ` * Terry Simons : UPGRADE Newsletter * * Terry's Quality Concrete : ` Business * * A few chose phrases : Those in * * not permissable here : my employee * *--------------------------------------------------* * Beware ! Using MS DOS at the office * * could be sexual harrassment. * **************************************************** ` -*- 83207 20-NOV 11:46 General Information RE: Canada Stamp (Re: Msg 83191) From: CLAUDECOTE To: MRUPGRADE Yes I am philatelist myself, specialized in New Zealand stamps for 16 years now. I have sold my Canada collection in 1981 to make cash to buy my house. Bye Claude Cote Z -*- End of Thread. -*- 83188 20-NOV 00:06 General Information RE: Window descriptors (Re: Msg 82623) From: TIMKIENTZLE To: ILLUSIONIST From Kevin Darling's "Inside OS9 Level II" (which I suppose is what you're talking about), the Default palette table is in GrfInt at offset $02F2. Look for the 16 bytes: $3f, $09, $00, $12, $24, $36, $2d, $1b, and then the same 8 repeated. Any good disk editor should make it easy to change these. Be very careful to play with this on a backup disk, of course, since accidentally changing the wrong thing could be disastrous. I don't have the offset within WindInt handy, but you should be able to search for the above sequence of bytes to patch the color table in that. - Tim -*- 83195 20-NOV 00:47 General Information RE: Window descriptors (Re: Msg 83188) From: ILLUSIONIST To: TIMKIENTZLE Thanks, I will mess with Windint and try it out..I will post the offset within Windint..thanks again.. -* Mike -*- End of Thread. -*- 83189 20-NOV 00:12 OSK Applications RE: OSKFAX archive? (Re: Msg 82594) From: TIMKIENTZLE To: JEJONES It was compressed with LHa version 2.01, edition #2, ported June 15, 1992 by M. Haaland. (If that helps any.) It looks like others have managed to burst it, so I don't need to re-upload it. Yell if it still won't burst for you.. -*- 83203 20-NOV 07:52 OSK Applications RE: OSKFAX archive? (Re: Msg 83189) From: JEJONES To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR) > It was compressed with LHa version 2.01, edition #2, ported June 15, 1992 > by M. Haaland. (If that helps any.) It looks like others have managed > to burst it, so I don't need to re-upload it. Yell if it still won't > burst for you.. Actually, I think I found out why I had trouble--I was unarchiving it to a floptical...that I'd write protected. A stupid thing to do? You bet. OTOH, I probably could've figured it out earlier with a little better error message than Why? ROOT I think. :-) *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- End of Thread. -*- 83190 20-NOV 00:20 Programmers Den RE: Reading from Multiple Inputs (Re: Msg 82634) From: TIMKIENTZLE To: MREGC When processing the interrupt fast enough is a concern, it might be necessary to set up a circular buffer to store successive interrupts in. Have the interrupt handler store the interrupt value in a circular queue, and then you can get a much better idea of what's going on, not to mention easing the timing constraints on processing the interrupt. - Tim -*- 83229 20-NOV 21:59 Programmers Den RE: Reading from Multiple Inputs (Re: Msg 83190) From: MREGC To: TIMKIENTZLE (NR) Good idea. I think I'll give that a shot. Hopefully it'll save the idea of being able to use the keyboard since, as it stands right now the keyboard is proving to be way too slow. ..Thanks... ..Eric... -*- End of Thread. -*- 83192 20-NOV 00:26 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 82768) From: TIMKIENTZLE To: JOELHEGBERG A better keyboard interface was discussed extensively on the Internet mailing list a couple of years ago. Several of us worked out an approach that allows you to distinguish all of the keys on the keyboard without going to two-byte sequences (which can be tough to parse). Eddie Kuns has been threatening for a long time to disassemble the MM/1 keyboard driver and implement the scheme we came up with. If someone is going to actually implement a better keyboard driver, they should talk to Eddie or myself or one of the other people who were involved in that discussion for details of the scheme we came up with. It accomplishes everything you described quite conveniently. - Tim -*- 83234 20-NOV 23:12 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83156) From: MREGC To: EMTWO Understood. You do have a very good point there. But at least we do have methods, albeit not as desireble, of getting the job done. ..Eric... -*- 83284 22-NOV 22:07 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83234) From: EMTWO To: MREGC Another thing we need right now, is some method to have your process send a signal when a key is pressed. We have this for the Mouse buttons, but not for keyboard stuff. -*- 83296 23-NOV 03:13 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83284) From: MREGC To: EMTWO Once again perhaps I am oversimplifying what you're trying to say, but it seems to me as though you're talking about what I've been doing with this program I'm currently working on as far as getting keyboard input from either of 2 windows. Is there a problem with setting up an interrupt on both (or the one if you're using one window) paths for the keyboard, then when the interrupt is processed reading input from whichever window was active when the key was pressed? ..Eric... -*- 83331 23-NOV 23:21 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83296) From: EMTWO To: MREGC The CGFX.l library contains a function that will send a signal when a mouse button is pressed. While it is waiting for that signal, the program can sleep, giving it's CPU time to other processes. I haven't seen anything that will do the same for keyboard responce. ie, Sleep until a key has been pressed, then wake up. Do you have such a function? If so, I need it. -*- 83338 24-NOV 03:39 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83331) From: MREGC To: EMTWO Issuing a _ss_ssig (pathnum,signumb) will tell the system to send your process an interrupt when a key is pressed. Following that with a tsleep(0) call will make the system sleep until such a time as your interrupt is generated. This is a standard call of the OS, no special library needed. ...Eric... -*- 83506 28-NOV 22:34 OSK Applications RE: K-Windows BUGS (Re: Msg 83331) From: JOELHEGBERG To: EMTWO Paul, You don't need a special CGFX.l lib function for having a signal sent when a key is pressed... the standard OS-9 library function _ss_sig() works well with any data path. -- Joel. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83193 20-NOV 00:32 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83160) From: REVWCP To: BOISY I was able to get the new hard drive up and running using SCSISYS_1.0 by Matt Thompson. I was also able to access the old st-138n. Now the challenge will be to be able to use both. The st-138n as /h0 and the st-251 as /h1. I alread have the cable made up. I still have to play with the descriptors a bit. One question that I have received differing opinions is do I have to remove the terminating resistors from one of the drives? With all best wishes. Brother Jeremy, CSJW -*- 83197 20-NOV 02:08 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83193) From: BOISY To: REVWCP On SCSI drives, you should remove terminators from all drives EXCEPT the last drive PHYSICALLY connected on the ribbon cable. It doesn't have to correlate to the last device, but should be the drive that's at te far end of the cable. Luck -*- 83205 20-NOV 09:44 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83197) From: REVWCP To: BOISY If I remove the terminators from one drive, at a later date would that drive be usuable alone or would the terminator resistors have to be put back on? With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy -*- 83211 20-NOV 12:46 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83205) From: BOISY To: REVWCP If you want to reuse a drive on another system after the terminators have been removed, you will want to keep the terminators handy. When you switch the drive over to the new system, reinstall the terminators as per the rule of thumb for SCSI devices. -*- 83213 20-NOV 12:51 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83157) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: REVWCP I am currently using the SCSISYS 1.0 until the disks arrive (I put in for the 2.0 version) making the descriptors was real easy with his program and setting up the hard disk was also easy. I used 512 byte sectors right off because you can get more space that way. if your having a problem with his drivers, I can help. Mike -*- 83214 20-NOV 13:00 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83197) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: BOISY here is a weird note. On my main system I am using two ST296N's they won't work unless i leave both terminator resistors in. Don't know why yet. Using a Ken-Ton SCSI interface... but its working so I won't complain. -*- 83224 20-NOV 21:24 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83214) From: BOISY To: MIKE_GUZZI Mike: I suspect that has to do with the KenTon interface not having access to the ATN line. Joe Scinta recommends soldering a 1/8 watt resistor from 1 to 10K ohms between the ATN pin and 5 volts on the drive bus (can7t remember the exact locations, but you could refer to a SCSI spec). It sounds like in your case, the terminating resistor on the last drive is providing enough voltage to the ATN line to hold it high when needed. -*- 83245 21-NOV 10:47 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83224) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: BOISY Yeah he told me about that, but I don't have the scsi specs. he told me which pin on the terminator, but it didn't work, so i left both terminators in. -*- 83282 22-NOV 21:56 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83211) From: REVWCP To: BOISY Dear Boisy, On the st-25 51n there are three terminator resistor "packs". Do I remove all three of these, or just one or ??? --Jeremy -*- 83285 22-NOV 22:10 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83282) From: BOISY To: REVWCP Bro. Jeremy: Remove all three resistor packs to properly un-terminate the drive. They should just pull right out (with a little prodding of with pliers if necessary). Save all three in case you need to re-terminate the drive at a latter date. Luck B010000012f4ced -*- 83313 23-NOV 07:06 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83205) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: REVWCP Bro, > If I remove the terminators from one drive, at a later date would that > drive be usuable alone or would the terminator resistors have to be put > back on? When you take them out, make a little drawing of exactly how they were in there. If you put them in backwards later on, it could case some problems with the SCSI bus. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83329 23-NOV 22:35 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83313) From: REVWCP To: MARKGRIFFITH I'm ahead of you on that one Mark. I did just that figuring I would never remember how the went otherwise. --Jeremy -*- 83378 25-NOV 22:05 System Modules (6809) RE: SCSI512 (Re: Msg 83313) From: REVWCP To: MARKGRIFFITH I had to put the terminators back in. Now the st-251n is working as /h0 and the st-138n is working as /h1. Both have the terminators on them. The st-138's are soldered, the st-251's plug in. Evenutally I will be pulling the st-138n off of the system. -- With all best wishes, Br. Jeremy, CSJW -*- End of Thread. -*- 83196 20-NOV 01:05 General Information RE: Repacking MM/1 question (Re: Msg 83129) From: ILLUSIONIST To: COLORSYSTEMS For any analog audio, I would go with the RCA "phono" type connectors. Most modern audio equipt. use these...of course you could go with whatever you thinks "looks" the best..and just wire up special cables for everything.. :) but I doubt you will want to do that.. Anyway, I would go with RCA jacks..or even the mini-stereo "walkman" type head phone plugs..either of them is ok..of course, you will need an adapter cable for the mini-stereo plugs..but they are pretty cheap to buy / easy to make.. -* Mike -*- 83198 20-NOV 05:29 Applications (6809) RE: New AR submitted (Re: Msg 83169) From: JWILKERSON To: DGANTZ Well, the new version of ar will work ok on a 6309. The Shell+ patch, I honestly do not know. I got the patches off here in the databases. All I can say, is give 'em a try. Seeya -- John -*- 83302 23-NOV 04:22 Applications (6809) RE: New AR submitted (Re: Msg 83198) From: DGANTZ To: JWILKERSON I must be honest, I have no clue as to what I may have done to spur this reply. But I will look for the patches and give them a try. Thanx. The closest thing I can remember is something regarding the 11 bit compression in the accepted version by the original author, or the 12 bit compression in the out-lawwed version by some one else. Quite frankly, I'm using Matt Thompson's LZH for just about everything now. Well take care. Dave -*- End of Thread. -*- 83199 20-NOV 06:31 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83153) From: SCWEGERT To: MDALENE > Yes I have looked into it. but the problem with IX is that I use Conn-net > to link up and the scrip language is in binary. There is no script > comiler included in the package for such a esoteric baby bell packet > network. The price of IX for the Coco was OK but without that IX has an alternate dialing script that might just do what you need. It will support 4 script commands: DLAY{value},SEND{string},WAIT{string}and EXIT. With this, you should be able to develops a MACRO that will allow you to utilize Conn-net. I'd check with Bill Dickhaus, author of IX for the suitability. *- Steve -* -*- 83227 20-NOV 21:33 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83199) From: MDALENE To: SCWEGERT Good idea to check. I rather not wast money on sometning that would not work well for my needs. Oh.. I have heard of MTSMON here on DELPHI and CIS Who has MTSMON and ttyset and word mtsmon work with SACIA? Michele Dalene -*- 83248 21-NOV 10:56 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83227) From: SCWEGERT To: MDALENE > Good idea to check. I rather not wast money on sometning that would not > work well for my needs. Oh.. I have heard of MTSMON here on DELPHI and > CIS Who has MTSMON and ttyset and word mtsmon work with SACIA? There is an OSK version of mtsmon in the libraries at CompuServe a well as being in the OS9 archives at wuarchive.wustl.edu. Executables only due to the fact that some inappropriate liberties were taken with the author's source code of another popular OS9 utility he released years ago. Once burned twice shy and all that ... While mtsmon does exist for the 6809, I don't think Carl ever released it. Steve *- Steve -* -*- 83258 21-NOV 20:23 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83248) From: MDALENE To: SCWEGERT Yeah, thats what I heard, Ssince I am back on CIS again I guess I could bub carl personally :) Of course I will not be on CIS ever night though I still need ttyset though. who gots it? Michele Dalene -*- 83287 22-NOV 23:21 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83258) From: SCWEGERT To: MDALENE > Yeah, thats what I heard, Ssince I am back on CIS again I guess I could > bub carl personally :) Of course I will not be on CIS ever night though > I still need ttyset though. who gots it? Not sure what ttyset is ... what does it do? *- Steve -* -*- 83387 26-NOV 19:14 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83287) From: MDALENE To: SCWEGERT ttyset is used to allow a user to change the terminal type for their path that they are set for. An example would for say a say a user is on /T2 and they type ttyset it would allow them to type in a new terinal config for the path of /t2 without messing up any other paths that you have configured for the other serial ports. In essence it is nothing complex but I rahter have the original version than taking the time to bang up my own release Michele Dalene -*- 83445 28-NOV 04:09 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83387) From: BROWN80 To: MDALENE I could be badly mistaken but I have never heard of ttyset on an OS-9 system, but it sounds like something I've seen on a UNIX system. It is my understanding that if you want to set TERM environments you would use setenv TERM (term type) This could also be included as part of a user's login file. UNIX sometimes uses this format also with many of its shells. I hope I understand your question correctly and that I haven't added to the confusion. -*- 83470 28-NOV 15:58 General Information RE: A litle note to all (Re: Msg 83445) From: MDALENE To: BROWN80 This works like the unix ttyset but this is for os9 level 2. it modifies the ttytype file in your /dd/sys directory. I would have been a kicker if only os9 level 2 let you have environment varibles. :) Michele Dalene -*- End of Thread. -*- 83200 20-NOV 06:32 Programmers Den RE: Basic09 Subroutines (Re: Msg 83167) From: SCWEGERT To: DGANTZ > I have a question and a comment. First you quoted what appears to be > someone elses lines. Second how did you quote their message? I know The same way I, and a lot of other on Delphi and CompuServe do. We're using a great new autonavigation product called InfoXpress. Have you heard about it? *- Steve -* -*- 83303 23-NOV 04:25 Programmers Den RE: Basic09 Subroutines (Re: Msg 83200) From: DGANTZ To: SCWEGERT Yes, but isn't that exclusively for the MM/1? I run a CoCo III with 512K. I think I read something about it in "The NoName Magazine". Have to see if I can find that issue again I spose. Thanx Dave -*- End of Thread. -*- 83202 20-NOV 07:25 General Information RE: infoxpress (Re: Msg 83139) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: JOELHEGBERG Joel, > > > Thanks for the reply. Could you check to see if your xydown's CRC > is > > $9027D1? > > > > Nope, mine is $6DC2. > > Hmm... Do you know where one can download the version you have? I > noticed a few others on here have mentioned they have had similar > problems and also have the same CRC for xydown that I have. I believe I got it here, but can swear on it. If it becomes a problem, I'll shoot you the source. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83204 20-NOV 07:53 General Information RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83100) From: WTHOMPSON To: BOISY Those are some very good ideas! Multi-Vue is much closer to being useable with NitrOS9, and the extensions you mentioned will go a long way towards the point where I would use it every day. 2 things I would like to see are: Be able to use 16 colors in Gshell (might not be worth the effort tho) Be able to copy a file like you can delete one with the trashcan. (ie. click on the file icon, then click on the RBF device above the trashcan) Thanks, Wayne -*- 83279 22-NOV 20:17 General Information RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83100) From: JIMHRUBIK To: BOISY Boisy, Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You have just solved (for me) one of the great mysteries of Multi-Vue's AIF files! There have been a number of times I tried to run programs under MV and got ziltch results because a parameter was needed (VU and AR come to mind). Then I saw this: > CURRENT AIF FORMAT > >Field Line Explanation >===== ==== =========== >Shell <--- 1: Name of program to run > <--- 2: Parameters (or ? for prompt) >ICONS/icon.shell <--- 3: path to icon, execution directory relative >0 <--- 4: additional memory (in pages) >2 <--- 5: window type >80 <--- 6: X size >24 <--- 7: Y size >2 <--- 8: foreground palette >0 <--- 9: background palette and the light came on! The information Tandy never bothered to give those of us without advanced computer science degrees! I quickly altered my AIF for VU, adding the '?' to the second line, then clicked on it. WOW! A window opened asking for the parameters, I fed it the filename, and voila! I was in business. [For a moment. Now I need to know how to make VU clear the page on the MV window before it writes the new one.] I've never had any major problems with MV (discounting the above) -- even Max9 ran fine as long as it was on /dd. I think it is well worth the effort to upgrade our little GUI from Tandy, and while my programming knowledge is piddly and I basically have to watch from the sidelines, I applaud you and wish you well. In the way of improvements to MV, my wish list would include having new SHELLs pop up in plain boxes, rather than the stock double box. A plain box would allow use of applications that require the full 640x192 or 320x192 screen (VU is one of those; I believe Max9 was another). Since I use ED3.1 and it already has a clipboard function, I don't really need that implemented, but there may be folks who do. Is there a need for a MV tutorial? I'd be happy to serve as a proofreader for documentation. Jim Hrubik Norton, OH 216-745-8435 -*- 83283 22-NOV 21:56 General Information RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83279) From: MRGOOD To: JIMHRUBIK Just FYI, the parameter line in aif files was not always capable of understanding a question mark. This feature was added by Kent Meyers I believe. Hugo -*- 83288 22-NOV 23:22 General Information RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83279) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: JIMHRUBIK > and the light came on! The information Tandy never bothered to give > those of us without advanced computer science degrees! I quickly altered > my AIF for VU, adding the '?' to the second line, then clicked on it. > WOW! A window opened asking for the parameters, I fed it the filename, > and voila! I was in business. [For a moment. Now I need to know how to > make VU clear the page on the MV window before it writes the new one.] Please remember, that the ? feature on line two of the AIF was NOT, I repeat, NOT part of the ORIGINAL GShell!!!!! It was a welcome addition with the GShell+ patch origionally by Kent Myers. ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83544 29-NOV 22:28 General Information RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83288) From: JIMHRUBIK To: COLORSYSTEMS > 83283 22-NOV 21:56 General Information > RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83279) > From: MRGOOD To: JIMHRUBIK (NR) > > Just FYI, the parameter line in aif files was not always capable > of understanding a question mark. This feature was added by Kent > Meyers I believe. > > Hugo > > 83288 22-NOV 23:22 General Information > RE: GShell Extension Proposal (Re: Msg 83279) > From: COLORSYSTEMS To: JIMHRUBIK (NR) > > Please remember, that the ? feature on line two of the AIF was NOT, I > repeat, NOT part of the ORIGINAL GShell!!!!! It was a welcome addition > with the GShell+ patch origionally by Kent Myers. > > ------------------------------------ > Zack C Sessions My apologies to Kent. I shoulda known better than to think kindly of TANDY :-) . And thank you both for correcting me. Jim -*- End of Thread. -*- 83206 20-NOV 11:41 OSK Applications forwarded message From: COLORSYSTEMS To: ALL Zack, Please post this to Delphi, thank you. ------- CUT ---- Please post this message on comp.os.m68k, comp.os.os9, FidoNET OS-9 and MM1TECH, delphi and compuserve. Thank you. I am putting out a request for 2 categories here: 1) If you are an MM/1 owner, please send me your: name, address, telephone #, machine serial number and your current system configuration. 2) If you are an OSK and/or MM/1 software developer or vendor, please send me your: name, address, telephone #, machine serial number, company name and your current system configuration. Where to reply to: email ww2150@acspr1.acs.brockport.edu Mail William L. Wittman, Jr. 873 Johnson Road Churchville, NY 14428 Attn: MM/1 - OSK +++++++++++++++ William L. Wittman, Jr. - Authorized MM/1 Sales Representative Voice (716) 494-1506 EST ww2150@ACSPR1.ACS.BROCKPORT.EDU Ask me about the NEW 68340 Accelerator board for the MM/1 ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83218 20-NOV 18:40 OSK Applications RE: forwarded message (Re: Msg 83206) From: MRGOOD To: COLORSYSTEMS Zack, Any explanation as to why Bill needs/wants this info? Hugo -*- 83220 20-NOV 19:46 OSK Applications RE: forwarded message (Re: Msg 83218) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: MRGOOD > Any explanation as to why Bill needs/wants this info? I can't say for sure, but I think Bill is putting together a list of vendors and owners in order to try and get some kind of a MM/1 Source Book together. Feel free to send him some EMail and ask! ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83222 20-NOV 20:33 OSK Applications RE: forwarded message (Re: Msg 83220) From: NIMITZ To: COLORSYSTEMS I'm not sure that Hugo is aware that Bill is also a vendor. (an authorized BlackHawk Enterprises, Inc. Reseller). David M. Graham BlackHawk Enterprises, Inc. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83208 20-NOV 11:48 General Information Software ads? From: MRUPGRADE To: ALL I know Delphi has a policy against advertising software. But I really think there should be exceptions. Some very well written pieces, just never got a real chance. Initial sales of some just didn't allow the prices in Rainbow, or Hot CoCo ads. As a result: you never got a chance to hear about and try them. Let me give you one example, and let you and the SYSOPS decide. Would this be, an exceptable exception among the unexceptable exceptions?? ROOT-DATA (c 1981) by, Grimise Sofware (R) Another money saver for your CoCo Computer. Origianlly developed by competant professionals this package loaded in: 16 or 32K. The latest Color Computer III version, makes full use of the 16 Color HSCREEN2 graphic pages. The CC3 ver 3.29 requires no documentation. Here the explicite graphics flip through screem by screem giving you a step by step proceedure. Whereby you may preform; in the privacy of your own home; a "Root-Canal". The sound which beats anything you could possibly digitize, is provided by the user. User friendliness rating: depends on the prespective of the "User" or "Usee". Do you you think we're pulling your leg? Look again; legs aren't what's being pulled here. If you would like to recieve this package "absloutely free"; we are looking for Bata-Test participants. Replied one publisher, when asked "if there wasn't a special place in his heart for this little gem"? He replied, "there is a place to put it, it's not special, and it's not in the heart". ************* UPLOADED VIA ULTIMATERM ************* * MRUPGRADE : Delphi * * Terry g : Graphics signature * * Terry Simons : UPGRADE Newsletter * * Terry's Quality Concrete : Business * * A few chose phrases : Those in * * not permissable here : my employee * *---------------------------------------------------* * Beware ! Using MS DOS at the office * * could be sexual harrassment. * ***************************************************** A note to you OS users (I know you'll be asking): YES! An OS version is in the works. Combined with Multi-Vue is will have special ICONS for molars, and incisors. -*- 83239 21-NOV 03:07 General Information RE: Software ads? (Re: Msg 83208) From: COCOKIWI To: MRUPGRADE I,m interested have both BASIC....and Os9 lv II and run 6309 system hav,nt got B & B up and running yet with power boost! And I also have 2 meg memory Rs232 port/Microsoft mouse....port..... secondary computer 386...clone!link to the CoCo via it!via second rs232 port.......Dennis -*- End of Thread. -*- 83209 20-NOV 12:34 Programmers Den RE: The Protect Program (Re: Msg 83094) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: THETAURUS Ok ill dig through my disks and see what i can come up with -*- 83210 20-NOV 12:39 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83103) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: CBJ My original version of APBBS was shareware, because of that I learned what was needed for a commerical product. Then I went that route. Mike -*- 83233 20-NOV 23:03 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83023) From: MREGC To: MARKGRIFFITH Mark, > No one is taking the machine to its full capabilities. Funny, that's almost a direct quote of something I said during the discussions that preceded the MM/1, TC-70 and System IV. Several years ago now when everyone was talking about the need to move to a faster, more powerful system I was screaming that we hadn't even pushed the CoCo 3 to its full capabilities yet, and that if we did move to such a system, the same thing would happen. Well, it seems I was right. Now I will admit that OSK has seen some software proted that is simply too big for the CoCo to handle, but besides that GhostScript and Tex stuff, (or whatever it is,) and the ability to display pictures in more colors, how much of this new software couldn't be done on the CoCo 3? In fact, how much software is there for the CoCo 3 that the OSK systems can't even touch yet? I'd say quite a bit. Does this surprise you? You've always seemed to be a pretty firm realist so I doubt it. But why should it surprise any of us? On a slight side note, do you think that adoptimg "standards" such as are currently being discussed will be necessarily destructive to the possibility of taking the machine to its full capabilities? Will everyone start programming for the lowest common denominator, (full portability to every other system, including terminals)? > I have yet to see anyone make use of the sound capabilities of the MM/1... I agree, and that's something I had really been looking forward to. Oh well, its on my list of software that I want to write. It is a little ways down the list, though. I should get to it sometime around the year 2000. (disgusted grin) > We also don't see anyone doing anything with the great full motion video > capabilities? Exactly what are you referring to here? The VSC's built in RLE decoding? The PIXAC? What kind of software do you think could be done. Besides in doing some animation I can't think of any great use of the RLE decoding. And what kind of useful animation could you do? I would love to use the PIXAC, but it doesn't seem to be supported in K-Windows, and even though you can go around K-Windows to access it, as a C programmer I have absolutely no idea how to do it. Have you something else in mind? > We aren't even getting the basic applications built. ...after almost 6 or 7 > years of flogging the lack of applications horse... I understand what you're saying here, and even agree, but, for you personally, what are we missing? What applications that YOU PERSONALLY want to have need to be around in a year or two to keep you from leaving? For me personally, I program, I telecommunicate, I word process, and occasionally I just like to endulge in some entertainment. To those ends, the MM/1 is pretty close to satisfying my needs already. Granted a DTP would be nice, support for some of the more modern file transfer formats *included* in term programs (as opposed to the standard OS9 technique of using outside programs to do the job) would be nice, and some more entertainment software is definitely needed. But overall my MM/1 is serving my needs pretty well. Which of your needs aren't being met? ...Eric... -*- 83249 21-NOV 11:41 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83233) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: MREGC > Now I will admit that OSK has seen some software proted that is simply > too big for the CoCo to handle, but besides that GhostScript and Tex > stuff, (or whatever it is,) and the ability to display pictures in more > colors, how much of this new software couldn't be done on the CoCo 3? Um, what is your point, here? That there is little reason to upgrade to an MM/1 since most of the MM/1 software could have been done on a CoCo3? If that is your point, then I disagree. In my case, most of my MM/1 offerings are programs which I originally wrote for the CoCo and ported to the MM/1, but things like painting the screen and the smoothness of the animation make the game programs look and feel a hundred times better on the MM/1. > In > fact, how much software > is there for the CoCo 3 that the OSK systems can't even touch yet? I'd > say quite a bit. Are we talking OS9 software on the CoCo3 or just "software"? If we are talking OS9 software, then virtually ANYTHING written for OS9 on the CoCo3 is portable to the MM/1, it just takes a programmer's time (and the availability of an MM/1) to do it. Now, there are some OS9 programs, like the recently announced SMASH from Northern Xposure, and ALL ROM based programs which access various HARDWARE aspects of the CoCo3, like GIME registers and the like. These programs WOULD be very difficult to port for obvious reasons. > > I have yet to see anyone make use of the sound capabilities of the > MM/1... > I agree, and that's something I had really been looking forward to. The name escapes me, but there is someone working on a "sound editor" type of program. I thought it may have been finished by now, but I haven't seen any postings from the author lately. I breifly looked at this myself, and wrote a snippet of code which took a small sample and then played it back out. I was so disappointed with the lack of consistency in the quality I gave up on it. Apparently some early MM/1's have problems generating clean samples, something about the '070 being too noisy on the buss or something like that. Mark? ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83257 21-NOV 20:17 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83249) From: MREGC To: COLORSYSTEMS Zack, > Um, what is your point, here? That there is little reason to upgrade... No, not at all. I do support the decision to upgrade and am very happy that I did so. All I am saying here is that, since the same phenomenon occurred with the CoCo 3, no one should be surprised that its happening with the OSK systems, though I wish it were different. > Are we talking OS9 software on the CoCo3 or just "software"? I'm talking CoCo 3 RS-DOS stuff here. Things like Max-10, ColorMax Deluxe, Studio Works and such. > The name escapes me, but there is someone working on a "sound editor"... Yes, there was. I believe you're referring to Stephen Seneker, who was working on a program the name of which escapes me about a year ago. I've been meaing to drop him a note asking about it since I haven't heard anything about it in quite awhile. ...Eric... -*- 83309 23-NOV 07:06 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83233) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MREGC Eric, > > No one is taking the machine to its full capabilities. > > Funny, that's almost a direct quote of something I said during the > discussions that preceded the MM/1, TC-70 and System IV. I think that the CoCo was taken to it's limits a long time ago. There is just so much you can do with a 64K machine. While its true that new ideas are still coming out, there will never be anything like what is available for the rest of the computing world. I'm talking about the multimedia stuff, super graphics and sound, etc. The CoCo was and still is a good machine, but let's be realistic. > On a slight side note, do you think that adoptimg "standards" such as > are currently being discussed will be necessarily destructive to the > possibility of taking the machine to its full capabilities? Will everyone > start programming for the lowest common denominator, (full portability to > every other system, including terminals)? I don't see standards having anything to do with how people program. Standards are there to make things easier, not to have one program or programmers methods forced upon everyone else. > > We also don't see anyone doing anything with the great full motion > video > capabilities? > > Exactly what are you referring to here? The VSC's built in RLE > decoding? The PIXAC? What kind of software do you think could be done. The MM/1 has the ability to pull full motion video off the hard drive and display it on the screen. You might have to use a small window, as lots of the PC machines do, but it can be done. Someone needs to come up with a program to display whatever current full-motion video format the PC crowd is now supporting. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83336 24-NOV 03:24 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83309) From: MREGC To: MARKGRIFFITH Mark, > I think the CoCo was taken to its limits a long time ago. ... there will > never be anything like what is available for the rest of the computing > world. Agreed. But what I am saying here is that there are a lot of things that still could have done on a CoCo 3 that never were. Maybe a CoCo 3 couldn't have run a Video Toaster, but it could have done better video effects than anyone ever did with it. No one program ever pushed that 6809 Gime combination to its max, meaning pretty close to 100% of system resources being used by said program, much like the original Dragon's Lair did on the Amiga. It has been said that that program pushed the Amiga to its limits. What such program can you name for the CoCo 3? Now, understanding this, and also understanding that most, if not all of the MM/1 prgrammers came from the CoCo, why would anyone expect anything different from MM/1 programs? If we didn't use all of the CoCo 3's resources why would we do it on the MM/1? > Standards are there to make things easier, not to have one program or > programmers methods forced upon everyone else. That is certainly how it should be. But let's take a look at something that happened in the Mac arena. Anyone who has used a Mac knows how they use their mouse and scrollbars. Well, some guy wrote a program which redefined this "standard" of theirs and did his scrollbars in a totally different way. Moreso than anything abot the merits of the program, the only discussion about this paritcular program was a public lambasting of the programmer because of his having broken the "standard". I would hate to see something so ridiculous happen here. > The MM/1 has the ability to pull full motion video off the hard drive and > display it on the screen. ... Someone needs to come up with a program to > display whatever current full motion video format... Are you referring to a specific function of the VSC, or just the fact that the MM/1's data transfer rates are fast enough to do FMV (full motion video) from the hard drive? What practical applications do you see this realistically being used in? I've spent much time and effort trying to get the specifications to Apple's Quicktime format, which the Mac folks are using now, with little success. I've tried the Mac sig here, the mac and multimedia sigs on C-Serve, and even calling Apple. I finally found a file which is what I think I'm looking for, but its archived in a Mac specific format that we can't bust. If you have a way of getting this format I would be more than happy to take a crack at writing a viewer, especially now with the MM/1's 68340 expansion board, since a 68020 is required on the Mac to run it. ...Eric... -*- 83345 24-NOV 07:54 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83336) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Have you tried macunpack?? It supposedly unpacks several mac formats?? -*- 83360 25-NOV 03:05 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83345) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ > Have you tried macunpack?? If you're referring to the Unix utility Mike ported over, yes I did. It was able to unpack the archive's directory structure, but not any of the files. ...Eric... -*- 83412 27-NOV 05:48 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83336) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MREGC Eric, > I've spent much time and effort trying to > get the specifications to Apple's Quicktime format, which the Mac folks > are using now, with little success. I've tried the Mac sig here, the mac > and multimedia sigs on C-Serve, and even calling Apple. I finally found a > file which is what I think I'm looking for, but its archived in a Mac > specific format that we can't bust. If you have a way of getting this > format I would be more than happy to take a crack at writing a viewer, > especially now with the MM/1's 68340 expansion board, since a 68020 is > required on the Mac to run it. If you send me the file, I'll take a "crack" at cracking it at work. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83443 28-NOV 03:10 General Information RE: Wish List Update (Re: Msg 83412) From: MREGC To: MARKGRIFFITH > If you send me the file, I'll take a "crack" at cracking it at work. Thanks Mark, will do. Look for it in the next couple of days. ..Eric... -*- End of Thread. -*- 83215 20-NOV 15:00 Telecom (6809) RiBBS From: DENNYWRIGHT To: ALL Ii am trying to set up RIiBBS v2.10 and I am having problems creating the userlog. I did everything the docs said too but when I get to creating the userlog it hangs. I execute 'useredit' and I get 'Userlog not Found' over and over again. Hhas anyone else ever had this problem? If so how did you fix it? Any ideas what I could be doing wrong? -*- 83246 21-NOV 10:49 Telecom (6809) RE: RiBBS (Re: Msg 83215) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: DENNYWRIGHT create the userlog with BUILD, don't put anything in it, just have the file there. Then try running useredit -*- 83278 22-NOV 19:45 Telecom (6809) RE: RiBBS (Re: Msg 83246) From: DENNYWRIGHT To: MIKE_GUZZI Thanks I figured it out. I was executing commands from my system master cmds dir when I should have been in the BBS cmds dir. I then had a bad connect module which I replaced but now I get error 211 in connect. I'm afraid I'm lost at this point. Where should I go from here? As far as I can tel I have created all the necessary text files. Could the connect module still be bad? At first I got a crc error when I tried to load it.I unarchived it again and checked the crc then remerged it with the other modules, after checking their crc values also! -*- End of Thread. -*- 83216 20-NOV 17:18 General Information 14.4 modem From: TEDJAEGER To: ALL Just got a new 14.4 modem! Hooked up on /t0 of my MM1. Called Sprintnet and got echoed back CONNECT 9600. From here nothing I type is echoed to my screen or has the desired effect. Thus "@D" does not generate the normal "Terminal" prompt and "c Delphi" does nothing. Do I need to turn off the modem's flow control or something? If so, how? My problem is not software related as the same thing happens with two comm programs. --Thanks, --TedJaeger -*- 83217 20-NOV 18:03 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83216) From: RANDYKWILSON To: TEDJAEGER Ted, /t0 does not support the proper hardware lines for the modem to operate effectively.Most likely your modem defaults to the much desired hardware handshaking mode. While you can monkey around with /t0 and the modem settings to get it to work (sorta), tis far better to put the modem on /t3. This will allow you to use it almost to its full potential. Randy -*- 83244 21-NOV 10:09 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83217) From: TEDJAEGER To: RANDYKWILSON Thanks much for that info as I am still struggling. I have tried the modem on my PC and found that it works. Could I move my mouse to /t0 (I had used it there before I got my IO board) and use the modem on /t2? As you probably figure, I dont have the extra hardware for t1,t3, etc. --Thanks, --TedJaeger -*- 83253 21-NOV 17:48 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83244) From: RANDYKWILSON To: TEDJAEGER The modem may work better on /t2. I'm not really sure, as I've never tried it. According to the tech manual, there is a way to do hardware handshake with either /t0 or /t2, but it doesn't say *exactly* how. I would guess that it requires a custom cable crossing DCD with CTS (for /t2), and DCD with CTS and DTR with RTS (for /t0). If getting a paddle for /t3 is not an option right now, try it on /t2. If more control is needed, I guess we'll just have to puzzle it out. :> Randy -*- 83274 22-NOV 06:33 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83244) From: SCWEGERT To: TEDJAEGER > Thanks much for that info as I am still struggling. I have tried the > modem on my PC and found that it works. Could I move my mouse to /t0 (I > had used it there before I got my IO board) and use the modem on /t2? As > you probably figure, I dont have the extra hardware for t1,t3, etc. T2 is an even worse choice for the modem as it only has TX, RX and GND. A couple of things to try on /t0: xmode /t0 type=80 If that doesn't improve things then try using software handshaking on the modem (AT&K4). Still having problem, turn hand shaking off all together(AT&K0) and see if things get better. Since your port will be faster (19.2K) than the speed Sprintnet is pumping data, it might just work. To really take advantage of a high speed modem you need /t3 or /t4. *- Steve -* -*- 83276 22-NOV 18:18 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83274) From: RANDYKWILSON To: SCWEGERT Ah, Steve, it's /t1 that's the brain-dead three wire serial port. It was really intended to have the Midi paddle on it. According to the Tech manual, /t2 is much like /t0, except that it supports one additional line; RTS. Alas, I can not really help Ted more. The very first thing I did when I put the v32 modem on the mm/1 was to modify the /t1 paddle to be /t3. Never tried it on the lesser ports. Randy -*- 83286 22-NOV 22:11 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83276) From: MITHELEN To: RANDYKWILSON I had /T0 hooked up with hardware handshakeing when I still had a CoCo hooked to my MM/1 as a terminal... the first step is setting type=80.Then you also need to wire your cable funny (or make an adaptor). I _think_ you described the cable changes correctly... I't worked OK... but A) there were problems on the CoCo's end, due to the 6551 ACIA having funky CTS behavior.. and B) I'm not all too sure the MM/1 driver was totally up to snuff. The absolute solution for high speed modem operation use is to use the /T3 or /T4 ports. -0- Paul -*- 83307 23-NOV 07:05 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83253) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: RANDYKWILSON Randy, > According to the tech manual, there is a way to do hardware handshake > with either /t0 or /t2, but it doesn't say *exactly* how. I would guess > that it requires a custom cable crossing DCD with CTS (for /t2), and DCD > with CTS and DTR with RTS (for /t0). Yeah, there is a way, and you've basically described it. With some different xmode setting for those ports, you can get hardware handshaking of a sort. Whether or not this will work with a HS modem I don't know. Probably not. You only get one handshaking line and the modem really needs two...one from the modem to the computer and another from the computer to the modem. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83340 24-NOV 06:32 General Information RE: 14.4 modem (Re: Msg 83276) From: SCWEGERT To: RANDYKWILSON > Ah, Steve, it's /t1 that's the brain-dead three wire serial port. It was > really And that's what I get for not looking it up! :-0 Yes ... looking at the tech manual, you're quite correct. It was /t1 I was thinking about. Thanks for keeping me honest. *- Steve -* -*- End of Thread. -*- 83219 20-NOV 19:35 General Information gen From: NIMITZ To: ALL I have posted a poll. I'm interested in gageing the amount of interest in the MM/1. Please partcipate. Thanks -*- 83221 20-NOV 20:03 System Modules (6809) Genie From: CLTUCKER To: ALL Am using ulterm to contact Genie. When Genie answers, the dialing info screen won't go away and cut me through. The tbl seems to be on my end. Any ideas.(:-) -*- 83235 21-NOV 00:13 System Modules (6809) RE: Genie (Re: Msg 83221) From: ILLUSIONIST To: CLTUCKER Using Ultimaterm? You posted in the wrong forum then, try the CoCo forum.. It might be a bug with Ulterm...I have had weird problems with it...but that is mostly with buffer/ram disk usage and uploading/downloading.. -* Mike -*- End of Thread. -*- 83223 20-NOV 20:39 Games & Graphics SMASH! From: CHARLESAM To: ALL I just received my copy of Smash for Northern Xposure. Great game and under OS9 to boot! I'm already addicted and this is day one. The wife is pulling her hair out.... I guess I better get her a copy. One thing though, it mentions a utility called VRN. Although its not essential, this utility would make the graphics smoother according to the docs. I checked the applications DB here and can't find it. Does anyone know where I can obtain this utility? Its written by Bruce Isted. Any help would be appreciated. If anyone is on the fence about this game, go for it... It is first quality and well thought out. I thought it would be a carbon of ARKANOID but it is not. There are some nice features here that are miles ahead of that game. Even without VRN, the graphics are first rate. With VRN, I can't say yet but its hard to see how it could be better. I would like to find out. Thanx Alan! Now lets see some more good games, I'll buy 'em. Charlie -*- 83225 20-NOV 21:24 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83223) From: REVWCP To: CHARLESAM I think it is in Systems DB. --Br. Jeremy, CSJW -*- 83228 20-NOV 21:43 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83223) From: ROYBUR To: CHARLESAM use "sea vrn" in the 6809 "system modules" section of the db. 8*).....roy -*- 83247 21-NOV 10:51 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83223) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: CHARLESAM vrn SHOULD be available here, if not I can always upload the archive -*- 83266 21-NOV 22:58 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83225) From: CHARLESAM To: REVWCP Thanx Br. Jeremy, I give a check there tonight. Charlie -*- 83267 21-NOV 22:58 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83228) From: CHARLESAM To: ROYBUR Thanx Roy.... Charlie -*- 83268 21-NOV 22:59 Games & Graphics RE: SMASH! (Re: Msg 83247) From: CHARLESAM To: MIKE_GUZZI Thanx for your offer, but let me check system DB first. Charlie -*- End of Thread. -*- 83226 20-NOV 21:28 General Information MM/1 rom modules From: LUCKYONE To: ALL FYI After reading Mark Griffith's review of the accelerator board in the latest issue of the Metamorphorsis and his comments about the modulues that IMS had put in ROM and the modules that came in the CMDS directory I decided to do a ident on each module in each of the locations. Here is what I found out: Mods in Mem Mods in CMDS Name Ed# Name Ed# shell 52 shell 48 setime 24 setime 21 mdir 20 mdir 18 mfree 15 mfree 14 procs 21 procs 19 devs 4 devs not in directory format 33 format 34 dir 39 dir 34 copy 29 copy 29 iniz 15 iniz 13 free 23 free 18 load 16 load 14 syscall 0 syscall 0 break 1 break 2 Since then I have saved all of the mods in memory to a directory. Howard Luckey delphi LUCKYONE CIS 74746,3207 ********** By InfoXpress 1.01 of course! ********** -*- 83308 23-NOV 07:06 General Information RE: MM/1 rom modules (Re: Msg 83226) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: LUCKYONE Howard, > After reading Mark Griffith's review of the accelerator board in the > latest issue of the Metamorphorsis and his comments about the modulues > that IMS had put in ROM and the modules that came in the CMDS directory I > decided to do a ident on each module in each of the locations. Here is > what I found out: Sheeesh! I only have a couple or three that were different! /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- End of Thread. -*- 83230 20-NOV 22:22 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 82897) From: MREGC To: JOELHEGBERG Joel, > Would people pay attention to the standards? Well, in order for me to follow any standard I would have to consider it to be at least as good as the method I would use should the standard not exist, and it would have to be as easy to implement. For example, quite awhile ago I was designing another GUI for the MM/1, (this was before I decided that having yours and Mike's available was enough.) Chet Simpson and I were working on our own "standard" for MM/1 icons, and had talked Mike into revising Desktop to conform to it. Unfortunately we never completed it. It supported variable sized icons, animated icons, shadowed icons, icons which included sound, and some other things. Now say there was a standards committee and they decided on a standard for all OSK GUI icons. If that standard did not include EVERYTHING that our icon format did ,(and if I was still developing this GUI,) then I wouldn't even give it a second glance. The problem with standards is that they sometimes have the tendency to cater to the lowest common denominator. For OS9 that might mean developing standards which would have to be useable on a terminal. That would be unacceptable. This in a way describes my biggest fear about the MM/1 users adopting G-Windows as our standard. I don't know enough about GW to be sure but the fear is that software would be written so that it could run on the least capable system possible, like DOC programmers writing software so that the 8088, or at least the 286 would be required to run it. (Oops, make that DOS programmers!) Since there are a number of systems out there whose graphic abilities can surpass the MM/1 that wouldn't be a big deal, but what about sound? If you wrote Write Right! for G-Windows would it still have the ability to use a variety of sounds, like that pleasing chime? This is a small example, but its often the small things that make a program a winner. Most importantly, as I understand it, G-Windows really needs the highest res screen to run, and I've been told that it doesn't support lower res screens. *IF* this is true then I couldn't use it to write for the MM/1's 256 color modes. Also unacceptable. Standards should give the ability to create portable software, but they shouldn't prevent, or even discourage programmer's use of each machine's unique special capabilities. ...Eric... -*- 83231 20-NOV 22:31 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 82953) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ David, > And if the community wants standards, they will enforce them by avoiding > use of offending software. Considering the general lack of software that's being complained about in the first place I don't its a good idea to promote avoiding ANY software as long as it works and does what its supposed to. If it came down to it, would you rather have 100 top-notch programs which conformed to no standards, or 5 pretty good but not as versatile programs which conformed to all the standards? Granted if the standards are comprehensive enough the programs could be just as versatile, but still would you want to chase ANY of the FEW developers away just because they chose not to follow your "standards"? Also, how often are standards actually as comprehensive as stand-alone super-program formats? ...Eric... -*- 83240 21-NOV 07:48 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83230) From: CBJ To: MREGC I agree on points about standards but threre are reasons to implement them as well. While you as a programmer may not use them in every case IF there is a set of standard ways to do things you will likely follow them when possible. You can also develop a "standard program" and add the bells and whistles to specific versions for platforms that can support them. A Standards committee need not be confined or delegated to programming eother. There is a proposal for one and until I get more info I'll keep an open mind about it. Carl -*- 83242 21-NOV 07:55 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83231) From: CBJ To: MREGC >Also, how often are standards actually as comprehensive as stand-alone super-program formats? Actually the standards can be as simple as the one more or less being taken for granted in the MS-DOS world right now. Hit the F1 key for a help menu. Even Word Perfecrt supports this now. (I think) As stated before, standards aren't neccessarily bad. It is also up to the programmeers as to how closely they follow them. An excellent example is UNIX. Many C programs have been ported from UNIX with a minimal rewrite of code. These are extremely well written (in a lot of csases) powerful programs. I say let's hear out the entire discussion on standards and then make a decision and not speculate on whether or not it will happen this way or not. Carl -*- 83255 21-NOV 19:42 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83240) From: MREGC To: CBJ > You can also develop a "standard program" and add the bells and whistles > to specific versions for platforms that can support them. This is very true. The question is, how many programmers will do this, and how many will stop at the "standard program"? Not to say I would blame a programmer for doing so, since customizing various versions for the different machines might prove to take too much time and not be financially beneficial to said programmer. Customizing a program to the system which the programmer owns would be much easier to code and to test, and might be less apt to happen should the programmer be writing a standard version. ...Eric... -*- 83256 21-NOV 20:05 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83242) From: MREGC To: CBJ > I say let's hear out the discussion on standards and then make a decision.. I agree. Discussion has never hurt anyone, anyone who is reasonable, that is. In fact, I even agree with the development of standards. However, my fear now is the same as it was when this was a big topic earlier this year. Some of the ideas tossed about seemed to head towards the idea that everything needed to be designed with the use of terminals in mind. Although there is some definite merit to this idea, I fear that it would have the effect of undermining the development of more preferrable (in my opinion) windows based software. Those aren't the kind of standads I want to see. What kind would I like to see? Well, besides the icon standard I'd been working on, I had done work on developing my own clipboard "standard". It supports clipping graphics screens, text segments, audio segments, and even integrated sound/animation segments. I've yet to write a program which needed to use such a standard, so its never seen the light of day. But this is the kind of standard I think needs to be developed. What chance do you think there is of such a standard being developed if everyone is concerned with maintaining compaibility with evry OSK system, in particular those using terminals? Maybe I'm wrong, in fact I hope I am. Maybe there's room for some more basic standards as you mentioned, and also room for some more advanced standards like I'm talking about. We shall see. *IF*, however, it came down to a choice of seeing softare which followed those more basic standards *or* seeing software which followed more advanced MM/1 specific standards, I'd take the latter. ...Eric... -*- 83264 21-NOV 21:46 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83230) From: DSRTFOX To: MREGC Eric, G windows requires at least 400x600 screen resolution to run, so you shouldn't have a problem there! It also supports higher resolutions IF available. -*- 83272 22-NOV 02:16 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83264) From: MREGC To: DSRTFOX > G windows requires at leas 400x600 screen resolution to run... Yes, but my question was, will it support the MM/1 LOWER resolution of 320 x 200 in 256 colors? If it doesn't then It'll only be of limited use to me. ..Eric... -*- 83273 22-NOV 05:54 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83256) From: JEJONES To: MREGC > I agree. Discussion has never hurt anyone, anyone who is reasonable, > that is. In fact, I even agree with the development of standards. However, > my fear now is the same as it was when this was a big topic earlier this > year. Some of the ideas tossed about seemed to head towards the idea that > everything needed to be designed with the use of terminals in mind. The ultimate reductio ad absurdum of that argument would claim that people shouldn't be writing all these programs that assume interactivity, because it keeps one from buying and using cheap keypunches and card readers. (I haven't priced them, so I can't say for sure that they're cheap--but I would think that you couldn't give them away these days.) One could even point to a bunch of software--editors, SCCS-like programs, MUSIC V--written for batch operation on mainframes. Bring back IEFBR14! NOT. That said, there *is* an argument for flexibility. A blind user doesn't have too much use for a GUI, and for that matter, there's something to be said for making it easy for *another program* to use programs. It would be nice if programs could be written as modules that do the dirty work and communicate with a replaceable interface module of one's choice, be it [A-Z]-Windows, a curses-driven display, or whatever (a serial connection to another machine, perhaps?). Opinions herein are those of their respective authors, and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83275 22-NOV 15:51 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83255) From: CBJ To: MREGC The point is that it is strictly up to you as a programmer to decide whether you'll add the bells and whistles. There are many programs that were written on another platform and OS that give you options for graphics (CGA, EGA, VGA, etc.) I think you get my drift. If you use the lowest common denominator then some functions are not available to you but you can still run the bare program. The point is the bells and whistles were added because they help sell a product to the higher end crowd but the main program is designed to sell to everyone. Carl -*- 83291 23-NOV 01:04 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83230) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Eric, if you wish to have standards you can live with, help write them! My goal is, not only to help adopt new standards, but to bring some old ones that will help us out to OS9. So, watch this space, you'll probably see a mix of old and new, that hopefully make sense to all of us (well, at least most of us! ) ;) David -*- 83292 23-NOV 01:11 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83231) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Eric, I hope that the developer will participate in this simply because they want to. But they also have to realize that if we're to survive at all, mainstreming plays an important role. Support for more DOS and MAC file types is a must. The most impo rtant new development promoted by the MM/1 is the use of IFF, and WAV files. And that should just be a start. The other need is for decreased development time. Most of us both program AND run our businesses, and that is a tough row to hoe. It's much of the reason for the sparcity of software. If you've noticed, even those who gripe the loudest about a lack of software are not very quick about adding to the available titles. Why is that?? Perhaps a standards organization could help to fix that p roblem. Nor need the standards be confining. That is one reason I propose an ongoing process, centered in a branch of the OS9 Users Group. If you're worried about confinement - check out the ANSI C standard. I've not noticed the standard keeping a nyone from extending the language, or work from getting done. -*- 83294 23-NOV 03:00 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83273) From: MREGC To: JEJONES > It would be nice if programs could be written as modules that do the > dirty work and communicate with a replaceable interface module of one's > choice. That *could* be a nice way for things to be, as long as the program contained ALL the modules it needed to be complete, (I tend to agree with the guy who got jumped on here several months ago for saying that he didn't like OS-9 programmers' ways of saying "Here's my term program. If you want buffer capture then save to disk and use your favorite editor! If you want to use xmodem for downloading jump to another window and use your favorite x-protocol program! If you want zmodem switch to another window..." I'll take Ultimaterm any day.) Also, the fact that the program exists in modules needs to be transparent to the user, should they so desire. Despite OS-9's power, *I* think some of the ways we tend to use (misuse) th OS's abilities obscure the benefits of the OS, especially when compared to the *complete*, (albeit out of necessity,) programs found on single-tasking systems, even RS-DOS. ...Eric... -*- 83295 23-NOV 03:09 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83275) From: MREGC To: CBJ > If you use the lowest common denominator then some functions are not > available to you but you can still run the bare program. The point is the > bells and whistles were added because they help sell a product... True. But consider this possibility. In orer to convince the few people in a smaller market to buy your program you have to put in all the bells and whistles you can. Expand hat market through use of a cross-platform windowing system, and maybe you can sell enough copies of the more bare program without having to add all the bells and whistles in for each version of the program and still turn a hefty profit without all the extra work. Now, of course this is only a possibility. The one factor that could completely invalidate the argument is competition. If the expanded market creates competition then each programmer will have to make his program as good as possible in order for it to survive. But in oir marketplace, what's the odds of sch a competitive struggle taking place? (I really need to do something about all these typos!) Hopefully I'm wrong, but I'd say slim and none. ..Eric... -*- 83297 23-NOV 03:16 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83291) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ > Eric, if you wish to have standards you can live with, help write them! David, as you can see I am never at a loss for an opinion or a way in which to express it. If there is online discussions about these proposed "standards" then you will be sure to see input from me. ...Eric... -*- 83298 23-NOV 03:29 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83292) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ David, All very good points, and I hope you're correct. Some flexible standards which allowed for a little flavor to remain in the software would surely be a positive thing. Hopefully competition will develop which will prevent my fear of "plain vanilla programs" from becomming a reality. As far as standards go, I would first like to see a position taken on one aspect of the OS-9 programming community. We often hear the word mainstream used as a place we ought to be. Well, in the mainstream, probably because, ok, entirely becuas the mainstream is full of single-tasking systems, we see programs which are entirely self-contained, meaning no outside utilities or other programs are needed to make one program complete. In the OS-9 community we have a habit of doing just the opposite. Some may call it re-inventing the wheel in every program, but if we want to enter this "mainstream" it is my opinion that mainstream users (myself included) will demand the same type of self contained, self sufficient software that is found on single-tasking systems. In other words, a marketable terminal program will need to have buffer capture (this *may* be an option, but probably not), xmodem, ymodem, zmodem, and whatever other popular protocols that there are, *built into* the program, not only accessible using outside programs in another window. Are we willing to do the things necessary to enter the "mainstream"? ...Eric... -*- 83300 23-NOV 03:52 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83272) From: AJMLFCO To: MREGC I am using G-Windows. It will display Gif's that are 320x200x256, I believe. At least it has displayed most every resolution I have tried so far. I don't know how the 320x200 would look for the entire desktop, though. It might look a little rough. Allen -*- 83315 23-NOV 20:03 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83300) From: DSRTFOX To: MREGC According to Steve Adams (G-Windows writer), the desktop needs at least 600x400 to display properly. It will display the lower res graphics also though. -*- 83324 23-NOV 21:41 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83294) From: JEJONES To: MREGC > That *could* be a nice way for things to be, as long as the program > contained ALL the modules it needed to be complete There's completeness and there's completeness. To go back to the infamous example: if I get into Ultimaterm and go looking through the capture buffer, can I easily search for the line that matches a certain regular expression, or select a range of lines, sort them, and save the sorted result to a file? I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Disk BASIC user :-), so I can't say for sure, but I think not. Those are trivial tasks with common Unix editors that have been ported to OS-9. Someone specifically writing an editor is sure to do a better job of it than someone writing something that will get by as part of a larger program; people, to put it mildly, get accustomed to their favorite editor. (Just read the emacs/vi flamage on the net if you doubt that.) Why make people relearn whatever makeshift facilities people come up with as part of an attempt to write a "complete" program? What made OSTerm "incomplete" is that it was *not* designed with modularity in mind, but instead, for example, rolled its own [xy]modem file transfer routines. Opinions herein are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83334 24-NOV 02:52 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83300) From: MREGC To: AJMLFCO > I don't know how the 320x200 would look for the entire desktop, though. Actucally I wasn't referring to running the desktop in that mode. I agree that it needs the max resoulution. I was just wondering if the G-library supports a standard set of screen resolutions compatible with every platform, or if it supports every res/colors combination of the particular machine its being run on. > I am using G-Windows. Good, then you can answer a question which recently came to mind. Does G-Windows support some kind of clipboard standard? If so, and I guess you would have to have the developer's pack to know this, how comprhensive of a standard is it? ...Eric... -*- 83337 24-NOV 03:36 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83324) From: MREGC To: JEJONES > Why make people relearn whatever makeshift facilities people come up with > as part of an attempt to write a "complete" program? Why make people have to use another program just to perform the basic functions of telecommunicating? Look at the response of an average single- tasker. They seem to want software (and so do I) which is stand alone. If we want to attract these people then we have to respect their wishes. I would never want to take away your ability to use whatever means you prefer to do your buffer captures and file transfers, but I think we should also support those who prefer to have these features built into the programs they use. ...Eric... -*- 83339 24-NOV 06:02 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83337) From: JEJONES To: MREGC > Why make people have to use another program just to perform the basic > functions of telecommunicating? That's a false dichotomy. If the application is properly written, then the average user doesn't have to know that an operation is being implemented by spawning another process. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83341 24-NOV 06:32 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83291) From: SCWEGERT To: NIMITZ > Eric, if you wish to have standards you can live with, help write them! > David, am I missing something? Didn't we go through this a year and a half ago with pitiful results? I would think we need to put our efforts behind more applications (standard or not) first to help us decide wether or not we have a market for which to write a standard! *- Steve -* -*- 83342 24-NOV 07:39 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83297) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Thanks. We need a great deal more discussion here, and also some basic agreement on the way to go. But the market place will always enforce it's opinion, even if it doesn;t have one ! -*- 83343 24-NOV 07:42 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83337) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Actually, you've touched on one side effect I hope to gain from a standards organization. More libraries so that adequate routines can be rolled into new apps in record time so we can get more AND better applications. Davi -*- 83344 24-NOV 07:46 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83341) From: NIMITZ To: SCWEGERT Steve, Part of the functions of the standards organization that I envision wouuld be helping to get the programs right the first tiem. And I am willing to go trough this every month if I have to to make it happen. What efforts are going forth for new ap plications now?? Very little. And Very Slow. Too little too late spells disaster. It is time to fix that once and for all. We waste too much time on the development of routines that are available as libraries for DOS and UNIX and don't spend enough t time on the things that make a program distinctive. So, this is a development gain as much as anything else. -*- 83347 24-NOV 16:11 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83337) From: CBJ To: MREGC Hear, hear! I use OSterm all the time and IF I don't want to use the D/L protocol that it provides I can always open a shell! Sure the program could have been (maybe should have been) written differently but it wasn't and I could mention many programs under OS9 that could be written differently. It all boils down to this...the author MUST provide what the public wants. If he does that then his product will be used. OSterm is fairly popular so I guess the author(s) must have done something right. Carl -*- 83352 24-NOV 21:16 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83347) From: NIMITZ To: CBJ Bravo, Carl! That is exactly what I meant when I said the public would do enforcement of standards for us. That is why I think a standards organization can work. We will set standards by getting input from BOTH programmers and users. Then, when a consensus is reached, both can have software they are reasonably happy with, that sells! -*- 83358 25-NOV 02:56 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83339) From: MREGC To: JEJONES > If the application is properly written, then the average user doesn't have > know that an operation is being implemented by spawning another process. I totally agree. However I think what you meant is not quite what you said, and I'm agreeing with things that follow from what you actually said. If the average user doesn't know that a supplemental process is being used, then that other process would also have to be written by the same programmer as the main program, since the couldn't include and use someone else's text editor or x/y/z protocol with their program. This fits my definition of a complete program. If you want to use other, better stand-alone programs to perform certain functions, fine, more power to you. If, however, you don't want to do so, then you shouldn't be forced to. ...Eric... -*- 83359 25-NOV 03:01 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83342) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ As you seem to be promoting some more graphically inclined features of the MM/1, I think one of the first things that should be done is that the MM/1 programming community needs to get together and figure out what windowing system were going to support, and then develop and/or agree on some standards for window useage, such as a clipboard standard, an icon standard, a filepicker standard (such as the one Mike includes in the C library), a sound standard (there are several out there, which one should we use?), amd an animation standard. THEN we can worry about developing some general cross-platform OSK standards. ...Eric... -*- 83361 25-NOV 03:08 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83347) From: MREGC To: CBJ People keep referring to OSTerm in this conversation, I think partly due to the example I used earlier in this discussion. I wish I had some idea of how that program works, so I could know that we're all on the same wavelength in this discussion! ...Eric... -*- 83366 25-NOV 10:36 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83339) From: MRGOOD To: JEJONES Ultimately, this discussion is pointless. If we want to see what users REALLY want, have both camps put out commercial packages and see who sells more. Hugo -*- 83368 25-NOV 12:03 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83358) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: MREGC > > If the average user doesn't know that a supplemental process is being > used, > then that other process would also have to be written by the same > programmer as > the main program, since the couldn't include and use someone else's text > editor > or x/y/z protocol with their program. > KVED is an excellent example of what you are talking about. It is a graphical front end to the editor VED from Bob van der Poel. KVED was written by Ken Scales. Of course, KVED would be pretty useless to anyone who does not have a copy of VED, and not just any copy, since the two programs must work very closely together KVED assures that the version of VED you have is compatible with it. So, since KVED is pretty useless by itself, Ken never bothered to try and market it. What he did do was make an arrangement with Bob van der Poel such that KVED is not distributed with VED and if you have an MM/1 (VED works on ANY OSK platform, since it uses TERMCAP) and like GUI's you are free to use KVED. I do not know if Ken is getting a piece of the action from VED sales (I think he should!) but that is between him and Bob. Another example is a projecttI am working on and hope to have ready for holiday delivery. There is a version of GNU Chess which was ported to OSK. It has a very crude user interface, displaying the chess board setup with ASCII characters like p, k, Q and R. Periods, . , indicate empty squares. And to input a move you enter something like e3e4. I have written a graphical front end to GNU Chess for the MM/1 (well writing one, that is). It draws a chess board on your MM/1 monitor using full color graphics. Pieces are moved by pointing and clicking the mouse. It has the standard MM/1 Menu Interface designed by Mike Haaland. IMHO, it looks good. And actually playing Chess with you in the background is a copy of GNU Chess running in a child process with my program sending and getting data to/from it via pipes. Since GNU Chess is freely distributable by anyone as long as you make the sources available, I will be able to include a copy of GNU Chess on each copy of K-Windows Chess (KChess). ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83369 25-NOV 13:29 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83361) From: MITHELEN To: MREGC I think KBCom is a good example of a program that allows flexibility of use of outside programs, and simplicity. KBCom comes with its own external/standalone XModem program, which is called through KBComs Extension interface. Extensions are easily setup for any other program, so, adding Zmodem capability to KBCom was a cinch, just "bind" a key to the new command to run as an extension. Eddie was working on adding a lot of other nice features (like scroll back through the internal Buffer that KBCom already keeps) but his MM/1 got Zapped by lightning back in the Spring '93, and he is still waiting on it to be returned to him (I think Mark was real close to shipping it out last time I talked to Eddie) -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com Please, Send Money! My hard drive crashed, and I'm too broke to get a new one. -*- 83372 25-NOV 15:57 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83369) From: MREGC To: MITHELEN Form the sounds of it, KBCom is just the type of "complete" program I've been referring to in which both hardcore OS-9 users and "normal" non-OS9 users can both get the most out of it. Hats off to Eddie. ..Eric... -*- 83373 25-NOV 16:01 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83368) From: MREGC To: COLORSYSTEMS Both of the programs you refer to are front ends written after the fact for specific programs. This is not quite like what I've been referring to. I think a better example comes from a message that Paul J. (Mithlen) just left to me in which he talks about how well written KBCom is in that it has *its own* features built in, but allows you to use other programs as a substitute for its built in features if you wish. This method of programming is the ideal I hope we can all strive for. ...Eric... -*- 83380 25-NOV 23:09 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83373) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: MREGC > I think a better example comes from a message that Paul J. (Mithlen) > just left to me in which he talks about how well written KBCom is in that > it has *its own* features built in, but allows you to use other programs > as a substitute for its built in features if you wish. This method of > programming is the ideal I hope we can all strive for. I have KBCom and I know of np feature it has which can be performed by other programs. What it does do is use external programs to do the up and downloading. ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83382 26-NOV 04:28 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83380) From: MREGC To: COLORSYSTEMS As I don't have KBCom myself I don't really know for sure how its designed. I'm just going off of what I was told. You may want to refer to MITHELEN's message to me to see what were talking about. ...Eric... -*- 83383 26-NOV 18:09 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83382) From: MITHELEN To: MREGC KBCom is kinda set up like WizPro was, but with a much better interface for calling external programs... To provoid download capabilities,Eddie supplied his "XYmodem" program. XYModem is a really nice standalone x/y/ybatch transfer program (I also use it as the transfer program for my BBS) But, Eddie didn't include Zmodem support. But, with the callable extensions it was easy to add zmodem support, by just definind an extension to start up rz/sz in a window, passing watever parameters, and prompting for file names (in the case of sz) I also have extensions for adding say a tagline to the end of a message. I am thinking of adding a further extension that will "grab" the current screen and save it to a temp file, start up Emacs (with the temp file as the file) Then I can edit the grabed screen, and when I exit Emacs, it would do a ascii dump back out the terminal port... Gee... I thik I'll try setting that up tonight... would make it a lot easier for me to quote and respond to messages... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com Please, Send Money! My hard drive crashed, and I'm too broke to get a new one. -*- 83384 26-NOV 18:13 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83383) From: BOISY To: MITHELEN I'd be interested in that script! Indeed, KBCOM is an excellent terminal program. And its scripting is very handy. For instance, every week day morning at 3:00am (while I'm asleep), KBCom dials up Delphi and grabs my choice of stock quotes. The output is loged to a file, which is then mailed to me via UUCP 5.1bb. It's a super terminal program! -*- 83385 26-NOV 18:32 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83384) From: MITHELEN To: BOISY Well, The quoteing script was a hypothethical thing... I didn't actually do it yet... I just tried to whip one up quick, and ran into two snags... the first is, the emacs gets the screen width and height wrong, and the second is, the "grab" hot key, always makes you type a file name (You can't make it default to a file name) The first problems is the one that really keeps it from working... if there is a way to pass the current screen width/height to emacs, them maybe that would fix it... you'd just always be prompte for a fileto save the screen in before it fired up emacs... Hopefully, when Eddie gets working on KBcom again I can have him add some other feaqtures to fix the problem... I know he has plans on implementing a complete scripting language for it. -*- 83389 26-NOV 20:42 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83359) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Actually, Eric, I see no reason to delay general cross-platform OSK standards for KWindows programmers sakes. I'm concerned in this context for ALL OSK users. In fact, I'm working on getting Kevin Darling to write some docs for KWindows that would allow standards development, nor is he insensitive to the issue. But you have some good ideas, sen dmyd em your real name and address, so I can add you to a list of particilpants?? -*- 83396 26-NOV 22:58 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83341) From: THETAURUS To: SCWEGERT >>I would think we need to put our efforts behind more applications (standard or not) first to help us decide whether or not we have a market for which to write a standard! I agree. Somewhere down the road, standards for Professional OS9 will most likely be a necessity for the community, but not unless there is software to apply them too. The programmers need to get the programs out first. I know that is easier said then done, with the amount of programmers available now, but one way or another it needs to be done. Hopefully sometime in the future when the OS9 User's Group is in full swing, it will be able to help push that software developement somehow. >Chris< -*- 83404 27-NOV 04:21 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83383) From: MREGC To: MITHELEN Yes, that definitely sounds like Eddie has the right idea. Maybe I'll have to give KBCom a look. ..Eric... -*- 83405 27-NOV 04:21 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83368) From: JOELHEGBERG To: COLORSYSTEMS Zack, > And to input a move you enter something like e3e4. I have written a > graphical front end to GNU Chess for the MM/1 (well writing one, that is). > It draws a chess board on your MM/1 monitor using full color graphics. > Pieces are moved by pointing and clicking the mouse. It has the standard > MM/1 Menu Interface designed by Mike Haaland. IMHO, it looks good. And Sounds great! I've been itching for a graphical chess program. I guess it was just a matter of time before you brought it into reality! :) -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83408 27-NOV 04:31 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83389) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ > I see no reason to delay general cross-platform OSK standards for > KWindows programmers sakes. I think just maybe we need to get our own house in order before setting out to cure the whole community's ills. I'm not talking KWindows programmers here, I'm talking *MM/1* programmers, (granted these 2 groups may be one and the same.) I just think it wouldn't be to our benefit to devote time to developing windowing standards for say GWindows when the MM/1 group might decide to stay behind KWindows. Promoting the advancement of OSK *is* important to me, but I own an MM/1, and promoting it is what's most important to me. The personal info you requested is forthcoming. ...Eric... -*- 83415 27-NOV 06:05 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83343) From: TELENUT To: NIMITZ Yes, a shared code library would be nice. I will soupport the EthaWin front end and expect to use it as soon as it's available. Dave -*- 83428 27-NOV 16:56 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83408) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Eric, I'm talking about the personal OSK market as a whole. And certainly we need to get our act together, though that concerns hardware production more than anything. But by addressing certain needs of the general market simultaineously, we gain more input and faster development. David -*- 83429 27-NOV 17:00 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83396) From: NIMITZ To: THETAURUS Chris, the if the standards come out WITH the applications then we won't have to redevelop everything later......... -*- 83444 28-NOV 03:32 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83428) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ > I'm talking about the personal OSK market as a whole. ... by addressing > certain needs of the general market simultaneously, we gain more input and > faster development. Understood. And a very good point. I just don't want to be out fixing the "OSK market as a whole" while our own little part of that market is in disarray. I also wonder, "faster development" of what? If its generic, vanilla, cross- platform OSK programs with no flair, then I'm really not concerned. But if its powerful, windowed, maximized for each specific machine software, well then now you're talking! If we can take care of our own problems and the communitiy's at the same time, then all the better. Count me in. On a side note, in discussing software standards, there is one thing that's severely disappointed me with the MM/1 software so far. And may I first state that *I am also very guilty of doing this same thing!* We have a windowing system with windows capable of being moved and resized. While many programs out allow you to move them, I can't think of any that let you resize them. I had thought that, when writing the stuff I've done, that because my programs needed the full screen to work in, that it would be of no use allowing the user to resize it. However, this is far from true, just look at the windowing systems of other computer's out there. Windows can be resized for easy storage on the screen, and you could also use the scrollbars to scroll across the full window display. And before anyone says it, let me first respond to the obvious argument against what I'm saying. "Under OS-9 you have multiple screens and therefore you don't need the ability to move or resize windows, when you can just hot-key from screen to screen." Well, I happen to like having multiple windows of varying sizes on one screen. The operating system supports it, so why shouldn't our programs let us do it? In particular, terminal programs and text editors. It would be sensible for me to shrink my term program to say, 5 lines, and store it at the top or bottom of the screen so I could keep an eye on the text capture that I'm doing of the message base while I'm also editing some code in my somewhat shrunken text editor window. As it stands right now, I don't think the MM/1 has the programs which would allow me to do that. What a waste. As a programmer I'm vowing to include resizeability into any *new* software that I develop from here on out, and as a user I'm now demanding, (ok, demanding is a little strong, I'm asking,) that any software I purchase from here on out give me the flexibility that I wish for and that the operating system easily supports. End of sermon. Opposing arguments may start ... now. ..Eric... -*- 83460 28-NOV 13:22 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83444) From: FHOGG To: MREGC GWindows allows moving and resizing windows without the application having to do anything. This should/could be added to KWindows rather than individual applications. Just a thought... Hope I don't get pounced on for making it. -*- 83465 28-NOV 14:33 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83444) From: JOELHEGBERG To: MREGC Eric, > state that *I am also very guilty of doing this same thing!* We have a > windowing system with windows capable of being moved and resized. While > many programs out allow you to move them, I can't think of any that let > you resize them. I had thought that, when writing the stuff I've done, Actually, I can think of quite a few that let you resize them, although most are just small utilities. I try to add resizing to all my utilities and small games (Othello, GClock, StrMan, ViewFax, etc.), and yes, the next version of Write-Right will even allow this. :) > be of no use allowing the user to resize it. However, this is far from > true, just look at the windowing systems of other computer's out there. > Windows can be resized for easy storage on the screen, and you could also > use the scrollbars to scroll across the full window display. For some things, it's not bad (like text apps), but for some graphics apps, it's very hard, since if your virtual screen is larger than your displayed screen, and you have to FFill a region that resides partly on- screen and partly off-screen, I think you can see the problem. All the windowing systems I've seen keep track of virtual screens for the programmer, but K-Windows does not yet support this feature. I don't believe graphics programmers should spend their time trying to support virtual windows, since that is something that needs to be supported in the windowing system itself. However, graphics that can be rescaled to fit in varying window sizes should be supported, like the programs I mentioned in the previous paragraph do. -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83471 28-NOV 16:49 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83444) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: MREGC When the cgfx.l library has all of the nexessary code for handling resizing, dynamic scoll bars and all that other stuff which is done by the OS in MS-Windows, then I'll take advantage of them in any new program I write. ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83473 28-NOV 18:11 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83471) From: EMTWO To: MREGC As others have said, while you can do some moveing and resizeing under Kwindows, its not exactly user-friendly to do so. The K-Windows has some problems dealing with 'windows' that are recieveing output. You can't resize a window when thats happening. Other programmers have had to deal with other aspects of K-Windows that need work. Until then, the only real reason to have 19 different tiny windows on one screen is because you only HAVE one screen. K-Windows at least handles that nicely. -*- 83476 28-NOV 19:37 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83460) From: MREGC To: FHOGG > GWindows allows moving and resizing windows without the application having > to do anything. ... Just a thought... Hope I don't get pounced on for > making it. Of course not Frank. Information dispensation is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. In fact, it answers a question which I'd had about GWindows. Tell me, when you shrink a GWindow, does GW allow the use of the scrollbars to scroll around the virtal full screen? Also, can the programmer use the scrollbars to scroll around an area larger than full screen? If bth of these are possible, what happens when say, your program uses the scrollbars to scroll across a sheet of music which is actually several screens long, but when the user shrinks the program window, GW wans to use the scrollbars to scroll around the virtual full screen. Which one wins out? Hope I made that example clear enough. If you're not sure what I mean, just shout. ..Eric... -*- 83478 28-NOV 19:48 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83465) From: MREGC To: JOELHEGBERG Joel, > Actually, I can think of quite a few that let you resize them... You're right, and in fact I've seen most of these, I guess I was just thinking about the bigger apps and these just slipped my mind. :) > and yes, the next version of Write-Right will even allow this. :) Good! You know that's something I was looking for. Keep up the good work. > ... but for some graphics apps its very hard. Oh I'm well aware of that. In fact, twice in the last 2 - 3 years I've tried to start discussions on how we should handle the virtual screen scrolling thing, but no one was interested. Now it looks like we're ready to talk anout it. Even though it wouls still be nice, I can understand if say a game doesn't support it, as most games wouldn't even be written to run in a window, (I'm writing one right now and I know I'm not even thinking about trying to have it run in a window, much less one that can be resized.) But there are just some things, (term progs, word pros, DBs, etc...) that should be done in resizeable windows, and the extra code to handle scaling the text output to the window size just wouldn't be that much. ..Eric... -*- 83480 28-NOV 19:57 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83476) From: FHOGG To: MREGC Eric, > when you shrink a GWindow, does GW allow the use of the scrollbars > to scroll around the virtal full screen? Yes it does. As a matter of fact the scroll bars are proportional to the amount of the window you are looking at. By that I mean that by looking at the scroll bar area you can see about what size the actual window is compared to what you are looking at. (There must be an easier way to say this)... whatever... it's pretty neat. > Can the programmer use the scrollbars to scroll around an area larger > than full screen? etc etc I >think< so??? You determine the size of the virtual window and the size of the actual window when you open it. (Even where it appears on the screen) I don't have the docs here to really answer you. Perhaps someone else who is using GW can answer that and the other question. Frank -*- 83481 28-NOV 20:04 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83471) From: MREGC To: COLORSYSTEMS > When the cgfx.l library has all of the necessary code for handling > resizing, dynamic scoll bars and all that other stuff which is done by the > OS in MS-Windows... First, I'd really like to know what you mean by "necessary code", since K-Windows allows you to resize, and find out what the new window size is, I don't think anything else is "necessary", helpful, but definitely not necessary. Second, I've written my own dynamic scrollbars routines before, and it really didn't take much time or effort to do so. Mike has also done this in his get_dir routine, and he didn't find it very hard either. I realize some of the code involved in writing for resizeable windows is long and complicated, but dynamic scrollbars isn't one of those things. Finally, I agree that it would be nice if the windowing system handled more of the work, but I don't think its realistic for us to expect our windowing system to be quite as dynamic as MS-Windows. After all, as we're all quite aware, we arn't exactly in the mainstream here, and what Kevin/the new KW programmer got/will get out of their efforts falls FAR short of what the Microsoft programmer got for his efforts. In our market, the programmer is simply goig to have to work a little harder, its a fact of life we have to live with, unless we institute David Graham's idea of writing this code and incorporating it into libraries available to everyone. As Joel pointed out, resizing support is available in several programs. Those programmers didn't find it an impossible task, why should the rest of us? (Myself included) ...Eric... -*- 83482 28-NOV 20:10 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83473) From: MREGC To: EMTWO See my message 83481 to Zack. As Joel has pointed out, several programs out there do support resizing. It is true that for some programs, the extra code needed to do so would be almost overwhelming, especially if you run into K-Windows problems. But for many program, supporting resizing would not be all that much of a Herculean effort. With all the current talk about us developing mainstream quality software, I think making this extra effort will be a must. ...Eric... Opinions expressed herein are never guaranteed to meet with public approval. :) -*- 83484 28-NOV 20:24 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83385) From: THETAURUS To: MITHELEN >> I know he has plans on implementing a complete scripting language for it. Is this also planned for Level II, or is he solely MM/1 now? I took one look at the docs on writing a log on file and got discouraged right off. Adding the Xymodem protocols wasn't as hard as I thought it would be after I finally got them set up. Now if I can just get Zmodem set up and a dial up/logon script written I'll be golden. Unfortunately, as neat as KBCom looks, I have a hard time everytime I go back to trying to set it up. I hope future versions are a little more user friendly. >Chris< -*- 83486 28-NOV 20:52 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83478) From: MRGOOD To: MREGC Doesn't cgfx.l 5 have a text scaling function? I could swear I saw something about that in the documentation. Hugo -*- 83504 28-NOV 22:20 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83484) From: MITHELEN To: THETAURUS Yes, Eddie will update the CoCo version after he gets the features working on the MM/1 version. He is still without MM/1 at this moment (he is sitting right behind me in his Fermi Lab Office) Send me some E-Mail about the zmodem and autodial macros, and I'll send you a copy of mine when I get home... Eddie plans on adding a REAL autodialer, with script language, "infinate" terminal type support (by reverse interpeting termcap) Eddie sayz he should have his system real soon, like another week or so... I know he looks forward to getting back to hacking... -- Paul -*- 83512 29-NOV 00:06 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83334) From: AJMLFCO To: MREGC Eric, I don't know the specific answers to your questions about G-Windows clipboard standards or supported resoulutions as I don't have the Developer's package. I think a text file describing all of the (at that time) supported "C" functions is in the OSk database here. Allen -*- 83515 29-NOV 00:28 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83337) From: AJMLFCO To: MREGC Eric, I have been following your talk about Bloatware for a while here. I think there is a proper way to get a program that uses outside resources built. As a general rule, I don't like it when I have to open another shell and use the command line to start a utility that should have been part of the program. An example would be in 6809 Osterm, where I had to either start up a shell or hot-key to another window to start Zmodem. In the programer's defense, there are many protocols and it is hard to keep up with them all. On my OSK machine, I am using Sterm, which is indeed a Simple Terminal program. But, in this case, the Zmodem protocol is called from a simple keypress sequence even though the Zmodem program is external to Sterm. I believe this is acceptable and even preferable to putting the Zmodem code directly in the terminal program. Adding new options is easy, even for a user without the development system, if the application is in graphical mode under G-Windows by adding the download protocol to the custom menu. My vote is to have the programs modular but to lobby for better program designs that make the modularity invisible to the normal user. Allen -*- 83517 29-NOV 00:48 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83359) From: AJMLFCO To: MREGC Eric, I hope you don't think I am picking on you by replying to several of your messages in a row here. It's just that you have brought up a couple of interesting concepts.... I wonder about a " der about the wisdom of a "standards" effort here. I say this because the group that frequents this forum and even the other forums represent a very tiny percentage of the total customer base for OS9 and OSk products. Are you going to set standards for CD-I? Industrial users? Telecommunications? Embedded systems? Etc, Etc... First, get the User's Group built up and include more than 50 to 100 hobbyists in it. When you have a representative group of paid professional programmers on board, then we can consider talk of standards. I suspect we don't know what the "market" is yet. Let's research that first. Lets get more OS9 users from all areas involved in the User's group first. Allen -*- 83518 29-NOV 01:06 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83480) From: AJMLFCO To: FHOGG Frank, Yes you can use Gwindows to scroll across an object larger than even a full screen! I have a 1024x768 Gif that I can view using the HGwindows scroll bars. It's about two CRT's wide by about 1-1/2 CRT's high. ( should have been Gwindows above, not HGwindows..ughh). I had a couple of local OS/2 users over last week. They liked a lot of what they saw in Gwindows. There are some similarities between OS/2 Presentation Manager and Gwinidows, BTW. Allen -*- 83521 29-NOV 04:49 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83476) From: PAGAN To: MREGC >when you shrink a GWindow, does GW allow the use of the scrollbars to >scroll around the virtal full screen? Yes. You can also write to any part of the screen whether it's displayed or not and the screen can be set up to automatically buffer whatever is written or drawn to it. >can the programmer use the scrollbars to scroll around an area larger >than full screen? Again, Yes. There is an upper limit on the size of a screen. For normal, buffered text (terminal emulation) the limit is (I think) 160 columns by 96 rows. I don't know what the upper limit for non-emulation screen is but it's at least two or three times teh size of my screen (800 X 600). >If bth of these are possible, what happens when say, your program uses the >scrollbars to scroll across a sheet of music which is actually several >screens long, but when the user shrinks the program window, GW wans to use >the scrollbars to scroll around the virtual full screen. Which one wins >out? Hmmmmm. Never tried this but, based on experience with other aspects of the windowing system, I'd say itwould probably be up to the application which would 'win out'. Since G-Windows will, if instructed, notify an application whenever a scroll event occurs, the program can decide how it wants to treat it. If the application or user changes the visible section of the virtual screen, G-Windows will automatically update the scroll bars. Stephen (PAGAN) -*- 83526 29-NOV 06:08 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83366) From: JEJONES To: MRGOOD > Ultimately, this discussion is pointless. I disagree. What's really under discussion here is whether the scarce quantity of people willing to write applications is going to spend valuable resources reinventing the wheel (and possibly ending up with an octagonal wheel) or not. Opinions herein are those of their respective authors, and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83527 29-NOV 06:08 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83372) From: JEJONES To: MREGC > Form the sounds of it, KBCom is just the type of "complete" program I've > been referring to in which both hardcore OS-9 users and "normal" non-OS9 > users can both get the most out of it. Hats off to Eddie. Well said; I agree wholeheartedly. James Opinions herein are those of their respective authors, and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83528 29-NOV 06:08 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83460) From: JEJONES To: FHOGG > GWindows allows moving and resizing windows without the application having > to do anything. Are you saying that if I resize a window in which I have, say, umacs or less running, and in the former case then type ^l (redraw screen) or the latter type space (display next screenful), that they will display appropriately for the new window size? *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83537 29-NOV 21:42 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83444) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Eric, My idea it that if programmers share development of those parts fo a program that are essentially the same regardless of display system, then we acelerate development across the board. IE - several developers develope a DBase IV compabtible file library, and a DBASE language interpreter. They then seperately use these components to develop competing products. One is standard TTY, the other may be Termcap or termlib compatible, and others may be based on GWindows ro KWindows. But the products are there for consumers, to speed system sales, which then speeds software sales, and pay s you to upgrade the program. -*- 83538 29-NOV 21:58 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83517) From: NIMITZ To: AJMLFCO Allen, first off, the professional programmers you speak of need a reason to join. A standards group is one sort of thing that could draw them. Secondly, the 'hobbyists' you speak of include people interested in makeing a living selling OS9 hardware and software. It includes people interested in BUYING OS9 stuff. What makes you think these people alone aren't worth an effort to develope standards. You know, standards are incredibly easy to meet if you have none. And that is a major weakness of OS9. We don't aim for the stars, so we end up shooting ourselves in the foot!! -*- 83539 29-NOV 22:00 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83526) From: NIMITZ To: JEJONES Hear! Hear! Once again, my point, Mr. Jones! If the market is to move, some limited cooperation is necessary, and not evil! Thanks... -*- 83547 29-NOV 22:39 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83518) From: FHOGG To: AJMLFCO > Yes you can use Gwindows to scroll across an object larger > than even a full screen! Actually I did know that... really I did... honest. I like to hear when OS2 or 'other' people like GWindows. Tell me more. Frank -*- 83548 29-NOV 22:39 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83528) From: FHOGG To: JEJONES > Are you saying that if I resize a window in which I have, say, umacs > or less running, and in the former case then type ^l (redraw screen) > or the latter type space (display next screenful), that they will > display appropriately for the new window size? Yes. The resized window is uh... a window that you are looking thru to the stuff under it. ummm does that explain it? Frank -*- 83560 30-NOV 00:27 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83515) From: KSCALES To: AJMLFCO Hi, Allen - > I think there is a proper way to get a program that > uses outside resources built. As a general rule, I don't like > it when I have to open another shell and use the command line > to start a utility that should have been part of the program. I agree. My view on this whole thread is that "implementation" should not be the primary issue: Usability (user-friendliness) and Functionality should be the first concerns. Software re-use by using "outside resources" is a powerful capability of OS-9 that we can apply to accelerate availability of well-rounded applications. But we must consider the "user" perspective. > An example would be in 6809 Osterm, where I had to either start > up a shell or hot-key to another window to start Zmodem. In the > programer's defense, there are many protocols and it is hard to > keep up with them all. Yes, it would be pretty well impossible for an individual to keep a program current with the latest "state of the art". The industry moves very quickly. Consider archivers: there is a nearly continuous stream of programs providing enhanced functionality. > Zmodem protocol is called from a simple keypress sequence even > though the Zmodem program is external to Sterm. I believe this > is acceptable and even preferable to putting the Zmodem code > directly in the terminal program. Yes. The "Usability" factor has been satisfied. The operation is essentially "seemless" to the user, but the "Functionality" is there. By using the external Zmodem program, the programmer has significantly enhanced the basic program. Effectively, a "plug-in" extension. As another example, the upcoming release of OSTerm 68K (unfortunately K-Windows only for now) will also feature the ability to use external protocols (e.g., Zmodem). The external protocol is available from the Transfer menu, and file selection uses the standard OSTerm filepicker facilities. If Zmodem had to be re-written for inclusion in OSTerm 68K then we probably wouldn't see it released in the forseeable future.... > My vote is to have the programs modular but to lobby > for better program designs that make the modularity > invisible to the normal user. Couldn't agree more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83566 30-NOV 02:49 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83480) From: MREGC To: FHOGG > (There must be an easier way to say this) Don't worry, Frank, I understand exactly what you mean. Its the same kind of scrollbars that I mentioned that I, Mike Haaland, and I think one or two others have already been using, except that we each had to write our own code to handle them. Thanks for the info. ...Eric... -*- 83567 30-NOV 02:51 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83486) From: MREGC To: MRGOOD > Doesn't cgfx.l 5 have a text scaling function? Not that I remember, though I could be wrong. ...Eric... -*- 83568 30-NOV 02:52 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83512) From: MREGC To: AJMLFCO Thanks, I'll look for it. ...Eric.. -*- 83569 30-NOV 03:00 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83515) From: MREGC To: AJMLFCO > I don't like it when I have to open another shell and use the command line > to start a utility that should have been part of the program. I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I generally won't use software that forces me to do so. > I believe this is acceptable and even preferrable to putting the Zmodem > code directly in the terminal program. Acceptable I can agree with, but I don't know that I'd go as far as to say "preferrable." Then again, I don't really think it matters one bit, as long as the method of implementation is completely transparent to the user, unless the user decides to use a different Zmodem program, or whatever. > My vote ... make the modularity invisible to the normal user. I couldn't agree more. Extreme stress must be placed on the importance of "invisible to the normal user." ...Eric... -*- 83570 30-NOV 03:05 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83517) From: MREGC To: AJMLFCO > I hope you don't think I am picking on you... Don't worry. I had expected this talk to spawn some actual arguments, (which I wouldn't have minded one bit,) but its actually been very civil and intellectual. > I wonder about the wisdom of a "standards" effort here. If you've been following this conversation then you know it developed because I was expressing an apprehension about this idea of developing standards. Though I think with the right ideology behind it it could be a positive thing. ...Eric... -*- 83572 30-NOV 03:29 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83521) From: MREGC To: PAGAN Very imprssive. GWindows is starting to look better by the minute. Unfortunately, I keep hitting that cost of the development system wall. ...Eric... -*- 83573 30-NOV 03:32 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83537) From: MREGC To: NIMITZ It would be good to se your idea come to life, but I think it will be awhile before we see this market suuport several programs of the same type on different platforms on the same computer. Maybe we should start with some slightly easier goals. :) ...Eric... -*- 83574 30-NOV 03:39 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83567) From: JOELHEGBERG To: MREGC > > Doesn't cgfx.l 5 have a text scaling function? > > Not that I remember, though I could be wrong. It does have scaletext() (I believe that's what it's called), but it's very difficult to control in some instances. I explored using it in my page preview routine for Write-Right!, but after a few tests, I wrote my own code. :) -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83577 30-NOV 05:02 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83476) From: EDELMAR To: MREGC Eric, To answer a couple questions you have raised regarding G-WINDOWS. In an earlier message to Allen (AJMLFCO), you asked whether G-WINDOWS could support images, etc. of resolutions other than that currently in use. The answer is yes. Example - suppose you are in a 800x600x256 mode. You can view any image of 800x600x256 or less in its entirety on the screen. If the image is 320x200x16, it will simply use only a portion of the screen - slightly less 25% and not use the full CLUT. If the image is larger, say 1024x768x256, than most of it will appear on the screen. Using the horizontal and vertical scroll bars, you can view other portions of the image. However, if the image uses more than 256 colors, say some of the newer 24 bit stuff, G-WINDOWS will return an error message informing you it doesn't not know how to display the image. G-WINDOWS can only handle 256 colors maximum. Caveat - not all implementations of G-WINDOWS can handle 256 colors. Some of the implementations are for 16 colors and it is possible to do a 2-color port (monochrome), also. Of course, these implementations cannot display 256 color images, either. When you open most windows in G-WINDOWS, a 'draw buffer' (the G-WINDOWS term for what has been called 'virtual window' here) is also created. Most of the time, it is the same size as the maximum size of the window. Even if you resize the window so it is smaller, the draw buffer remains the same size. This permits the user to 'scroll' through the draw buffer to view its contents. It also permits writing to a portion of the window which may not be selected for viewing. When an application is written for G-WINDOWS, it can take advantage of the 'auto draw buffer' capability. I did this when I wrote 'VIEW FAX' for Joel Hegberg's ETHAFAX which I showed in Atlanta. While most faxs are of a speci- fied width, they can vary in length. Rather than attempt to create a worst- case draw buffer (very wasteful of memory), I used the 'auto draw buffer' capability. The size of the buffer is determined by the incoming data and is independent of the window size. A side note on this - it is possible to scale the image to view the entire message on one screen. However, some information/detail may be lost especially if the scaling ratio is high as might be required for some of the lower resolution implementations of G-WINDOWS. You asked whether G-WINDOWS supports some kind of a 'clipboard standard'. I'm not sure what you mean. If you are referring to clip-art, a conversion routine for GIF files does come with G-WINDOWS. And, I'm working on conver- sion routines to convert most of the other popular gfx formats to G-WINDOWS format. Along this line, I've finished a conversion routine to convert HPLJ soft fonts to G-WINDOWS format and will do one for TRUE-TYPE soft fonts later. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83579 30-NOV 07:25 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83548) From: JEJONES To: FHOGG > Yes. The resized window is uh... a window that you are looking thru to > the stuff under it. ummm does that explain it? I think so, but IMHO, if I understand what you're saying, it's not the behavior I'd personally like to see. What I'd like to see is this: I have a shell running in a window, and at the shell prompt I type less woof.c For some reason, while less is in mid-run, I decide to resize the window. After I resize the window, if I type space at the less running in the window, I want less's notion of what another "screenful" of woof.c is to reflect *the number of lines displayed in the resized window*. This takes work; what it really means is that less has to be notified of the change and potentially change, for example, the value of its TERMCAP environment variable. Alas, it probably means that some signal would have to be dedicated to the purpose and a list of programs interested in being notified of window size changes be kept somewhere. Opinions expressed herein are those of their respective authors, and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83586 30-NOV 12:02 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83538) From: CBJ To: NIMITZ >We don't aim for the stars, so we end up shooting ourselves in the foot!! * Well said!! =carl -*- 83615 1-DEC 00:02 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83577) From: MREGC To: EDELMAR Thanks, Ed. Remember, the more information you dispense on GWindows finer attributes the closer I get to breaching that "cost of GWindows + cost of developer's package" barrier that currently prevents me (and I'm sure som others) from committing to the MM/1 port. ...Eric... -*- 83620 1-DEC 00:27 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83579) From: FHOGG To: JEJONES Jim, One of the demos that comes with GWindows (called 'boxes' I think) does just that. When you resize the window the demo changes to fit. I guess this means that you could do what you want in a text window. But as it comes up it just shows you a piece of the window when you make it smaller. Ahhh another thing to play with. Actually I think I like your comments. It would be rough reading some things that are formatted for 80 chars tho, like a dir -e. Frank -*- 83638 1-DEC 05:51 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83579) From: EDELMAR To: JEJONES James, > less woof.c > For some reason, while less is in mid-run, I decide to resize the > window. After I resize the window, if I type space at the less > running in the window, I want less's notion of what another > "screenful" of woof.c is to reflect *the number of lines displayed > in the resized window*. What you want to do can be done but 'less' (and any other applications you want to respond as you describe) would have to be re-written. 'less' and most (all?) programs that access 'termcap' or other files to obtain size (and other) information, do so only once - when the program is first started. When a window is resized, a signal is sent (actually an 'event') and the new window size is available. It is possible to write a 'wrapper' for 'less' and other apps that would send specific information to the apps when certain events occur. Of course, the apps would have to be able respond to this information. The problem is not one of G-WINDOWS but rather, the apps. Apps could be written and/or modified so they can run in either 'native' mode or under G-WINDOWS and take advantage of G-WINDOWS capabilities. I suspect a real ambitious programmer could write an application running under native mode, G-WINDOWS and K-WINDOWS, at least for text based stuff without requiring different versions for each . Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83652 1-DEC 20:54 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83573) From: NIMITZ To: MREGC Perhaps the different platforms won't be on the same computer. Thats the advantage of OS9. And I do not think this is that hard of a goal. All it takes is some commitment and brain sweat. z -*- 83663 1-DEC 23:59 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83538) From: AJMLFCO To: NIMITZ I especially liked your comment about "We don't aim for the stars, so we end up shooting ourselves in the foot!!". How true, especially for those whose goal is to emulate the way MS-DOS does it! Instead of trying to make our systems leading edge, many try to just copy DOS applications. Allen -*- 83666 2-DEC 00:17 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83638) From: KSCALES To: EDELMAR Hi, Ed (and James, too) - > > For some reason, while less is in mid-run, I decide to resize the > > window. After I resize the window, if I type space at the less > > running in the window, I want less's notion of what another > > "screenful" of woof.c is to reflect *the number of lines displayed > > in the resized window*. > > What you want to do can be done but 'less' (and any other applications > you want to respond as you describe) would have to be re-written. > 'less' and most (all?) programs that access 'termcap' or other files to > obtain size (and other) information, do so only once - when the program is > first started. Sigh. Quoting from my messages 15737/8 on the CIS OS-9 forum (July/92), which were replies to Kevin D's request for input on K-Windows: "c) Signals when window changed: I would like to see codes similar to _ss_dcon() and _ss_dcoff() to enable and disable sending of a signal to a process when its window has been changed/resized (default, no signal, of course). It would have been really nice (and easy) to have been able to put support for these in my "sc" and "ispell" ports." As far as I know, these haven't been added. So the K-Windows programmer must keep checking the current window size to see if it has changed. > When a window is resized, a signal is sent (actually an 'event') and the > new window size is available. Using events (G-Windows) is a much tidier approach. Neat. It should be pretty simple to make a resizable G-Windows version of 'sc', so that the spreadsheet changes to reflect the resized window size. (The original source already understands the Unix SIGWINCH signal.) > Of course, the apps would have to be able respond to this information. Right. And if there were a simple method of managing it, I am sure more programmers would build it into their applications. So, how many more orders do you need to proceed with the MM/1 G-Windows port? ... / Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83667 2-DEC 00:19 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83560) From: AJMLFCO To: KSCALES Ken, A few months ago, I got a phone call from an old college buddy of mine. He works for a large industrial company (Aluminum smelter). He was really excited to find out that I was familair with OS9. Seems they they built a lot of their own control systems using OS9. They had recently seen a demonstration of G-Windows and were quite impressed. They were also looking for less expensive hardware to use for development in the office. I sent him copies of various adds from the Underground, etc. Hopefully, one of our vendors here hade a sale. The point is that a lot of these guys don't know that there are terminal programs, editors, games (be sure to put a "supervisor" button in it!), graphics editors, etc. available. The trick is to determine what they need and then figure out how to meet the need. The USER's group should help with that. Another thing..don't standardize on something of no use to the real user base of OS9, the real-time controls market. Allen -*- 83669 2-DEC 00:36 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83528) From: AJMLFCO To: JEJONES re: 83528 Unfortunately, GWindows is more like OS/2 or MS-Windows where the text is cropped when the window is smaller than the text display. You have to scroll right/left/up/down to view it. Desqview/X has "scalable fonts" which re-size to suit the window---neat but a load on the cpu (otherwise known as slow). Once DV/X get the fonts re-scaled, things go quick, though. It might be possible for the programmer to detect the window size in Gwindows and adjust to one of the three loaded "Qfonts" on the fly. I don't have the developer's kit so I can't check that out. Allen -*- 83676 2-DEC 20:16 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83663) From: NIMITZ To: AJMLFCO (NR) Allen, my aim it to duplicate DOS file structures, and , in some cases, programming languages, while retaining features that take advantage of OS9. And, then, we can attract people who want simultaineously developed superior features, and that will allow us to acheive some penetration into the small business market. David -*- 83677 2-DEC 20:28 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83669) From: EDELMAR To: AJMLFCO (NR) Allen, In a standard 'shell' window, (the one you see when you start G-WINDOWS, use cntl-s or the menu to start new windows) you can have only one of the three quick fonts. The window file manager reads the environment file to determine which size font to use. The window is sized accordingly. In a 'custom' window, (one which runs an app written under G-WINDOWS), the programmer or, if he allows, the user may select any of the fonts in the FONTS directory or any of the quick fonts. This may be done on the fly. You may have different faces, styles, sizes - whatever is available and suits your fancy. Some of the software we're writing permits all of the above plus hierogliphics or handwriting if you chose. Currently, I'm working on a set of fonts which will contain 'clip-art' for inclusion in documents. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83687 2-DEC 23:14 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83429) From: THETAURUS To: NIMITZ >>Chris, then if the standards come out WITH the applications then we won't have to redevelop everything later......... Well that is a good point. I just don't know if we would be starting too early in the game. Maybe starting out with a set of standards as a foundation, and then as more software is developed, adding to that set as we go along might be the right idea? Is that what you are saying? The thing I'm thinking about right now is, at this point we can probably think of a few standards that will most likely need to be set anyway, so yes, we could take care of those right off the bat. While I'm not personally as informed with this stuff as those of you using OSK, a few things come to my head. One is deciding what directories would be expected to be found on a hard disk so we could get some of the common directories standardized. I still believe programs should be flexible enough so that the user can place them and other files in whatever directory they please, but the author should also have standard default directories he can use to start with, while allowing the user to put things wherever he wants with a configuration program. This will allow easy startup as well as flexibility. Another idea is to have all the machines keep the same Keyboard setup so that all the keys, including and especially function keys will equal the same thing on all machines. I don't know if this is already taken care of, so I just mentioned it just in case. I think it would be a good idea to get a graphics library developed and distributed with OSK, similar to GFX2, for Basic. I understand once the MM/1 is back in production, BGFX will be getting finished up. That will be great, but I think there should probably be something similar distributed with OSK, so it will be easier to develop Basic programs that will run on all machines. Then comes the subject of Termcaps,PrintCaps and all that other stuff I don't really know anything about. I guess the committee would decide what goes into the termcap files, but then again, maybe termcaps is fine as is. I only mentioned it because I've heard a lot about it, especially it seems, when standards are discussed. Would this also be the time to decide on what Windowing systems should be considered 'standard'? I remember being in conference a short while back with Steve Rottinger who was explaining to me about API's and how it is used in the Clone and I guess Mac world. I never heard about such a thing before that, but it sounds like a killer idea. It would be better to just have something like that, which sounds like a Graphics Termcap, which will run any program in whatever GUI you wish. Would such a thing likely be developed in the not too distant future, or would it be a MAJOR programming effort? I still don't know much about it, so if there is more to it please let me in on it ;-) I think after a small base is developed, and as more software comes out, people will be able to think of more standards that will need to be set. It just sad that we will probably have more software standards than software for sometime >Chris< -*- 83691 2-DEC 23:14 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83504) From: THETAURUS To: MITHELEN >>Yes, Eddie will update the Coco version after he gets the features working on the MM/1 version. I'm looking forward to it. I remember him going over that with me here in forum a while back, but didn't know if that was still the case. >Chris< -*- 83702 3-DEC 07:27 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83667) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: AJMLFCO (NR) Allen, > The point is that a lot of these > guys don't know that there are terminal programs, editors, > games (be sure to put a "supervisor" button in it!), graphics > editors, etc. available. The trick is to determine what they > need and then figure out how to meet the need. The USER's > group should help with that. Another thing..don't standardize > on something of no use to the real user base of OS9, the > real-time controls market. Good point, and my basic reason for NOT having a standards committee in the OS-9 UG. To do so would be silly until the UG can speak for the OS-9 community at large, not just the little bit that frequents Delphi. Mark Griffith Director-at-large The OS-9 Users Group -*- 83713 3-DEC 20:58 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83666) From: EDELMAR To: KSCALES The magic number is 10. I have 10 orders - need 10 more. Ed -*- 83717 3-DEC 21:07 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83687) From: NIMITZ To: THETAURUS (NR) That is pretty much it. Start out with basic functionality and progress forward, as MS-DOS is doing in it's pursuit of UNIX.... ;) -*- 83718 3-DEC 21:10 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83702) From: NIMITZ To: MARKGRIFFITH Mark, untill you HAVE a standards organization, or make some other SERIOUS effort to provide support for those not on Delphi, you'll represent no community at large. That is one of my primary reasons to suggest this thing. David M. Graham BlackHawk Enterprises. -*- 83725 3-DEC 21:36 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83667) From: DSRTFOX To: AJMLFCO (NR) Heck Allen, send me an address and name and I7ll send them a free issue or two of "68 micros". With the new "Industrial User" column, I'm sure he'll like it (not that there is anything really "industrial" about it yet!). -*- 83726 3-DEC 21:38 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83713) From: HAWKSOFT To: EDELMAR Hi Ed! !-----------------------------------------------------------------------------! !HAWKSoft check# $dead ! !244 S. Randall Rd. #172 ! !Elgin, Il. 60123 ! ! ! !pay to the order of DELMAR $200.00 ! !TWO HUNDRED and no/sense -------------------------------------------DOLLARS ! ! ! !memo G-Windows MM/1 signed Christopher R. Hawks ! !-----------------------------------------------------------------------------! Here's my check! Sign me up!! :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> Chris <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: -*- 83728 3-DEC 21:46 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83726) From: MITHELEN To: HAWKSOFT (NR) Hey Chris, that is ALMOST a legal check, you forgot to put the date on it though... -*- 83738 4-DEC 04:16 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83676) From: EDELMAR To: NIMITZ (NR) David, > Allen, my aim it to duplicate DOS file structures, ... What is the advantage of the DOS file structure vs the OS9 file structure? From experience, I can assure you the OS9 file structure is more robust than DOSs. If you need to read/write DOS disks, we already have PCF provided by MW. > ... in some cases, programming languages, ... Today, most DOS apps are written in one of the flavors of ANSII C or C++. We have Ultra-C for OS9 and OS-9000. It is ANSII compliant and the latest version appears pretty solid. What other programming languages would you add? > .. that will allow us to acheive some penetration into the small business > market. I don't see how languages or file structures will help. We need the gp aps. Otherwise, this is a tough nut to crack - I've tried - unsuccessfully. Only sold 2 POS systems using OS9. However, I've sold many running under UNIX - but these were not 'mom-pop' operations, either. Before trying for this market, I'd suggest you look at the software already being offered. For example, Real World puts out a package which starts at a few hundred dollars. As more capability is needed, the user can buy additional modules. When he is ready to expand, he can go into networking or UNIX - still under Real World. Incidently, Real World and some of their competitors put out some very good packages, provide excellent support and can point to the many thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of satisfied users. One other point you should consider; most small businesses, when selecting their software package, will seek the advice of their accountant. Your ultimate data structure will have to conform to what they use. For what its worth, I've found it easier to compete against IBM, NCR, WANG and the other providers of more sophisticated and expensive software/hardware (but not necessarily better) than the likes of Real World, etc. who service the small business user. If we're to compete in the general MSDOS/UNIX market, aside from the obvious gp programs, I think we need the capability of importing/exporting files to the more popular MSDOS/UNIX programs. Most have some sort of proprietary compression/data structure. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83739 4-DEC 04:17 General Information RE: MM/1 Production (Re: Msg 83687) From: EDELMAR To: THETAURUS (NR) Chris, I don't believe this commuity is ready (mature enough) to establish standards. However, we might consider something along the line of 'recommended practices'. I won't try to address all the points you made; some are very good but others assume (almost) identical hardware. > One is deciding what directories would be expected to be found on a hard > disk so we could get some of the common directories > standardized. MW distributes Professional OS-9 with a recommended directory structure. Most OEM's conform to this. Tandy didn't in the CoCo. > Another idea is to have all the machines keep the same Keyboard setup so > that all the keys, including and especially function keys will equal the > same thing on all machines Gwindows and Kwindows environment can do it their way>. Not really necessary. We have termcap to take care of this problem. Besides, I don't think you'd be able to convince the terminal mfgs they should conform. G-WINDOWS does not define the output of the keyboard. This is determined by the OEM of the machine. > I understand once the MM/1 is back in production, BGFX will be getting > finished up. That will be great, but I think there should probably be > something similar distributed with OSK, so it will be easier to develop > Basic programs that will run on all machines doesn't come with basic>. Whether assembler, C or Basic, gfx are peculiar to the specific hardware. As things stand now, there isn't anyway to get a single verions of 'BGFX' to work across all the platforms. However, if the OEM's would get together, It just might be possible to come up with something like a GFX termcap as you suggest. However, to keep the speed up, it would probably be better to attach it to the kernel; i.e., each hardware implemenation would have a P(n) attached to the kernel peculiar to that implementation. It would respond to a standard set of gfx calls. > Would this also be the time to decide on what Windowing systems should be > considered 'standard' system>? I don't believe the UG would be able to make such a recommendation nor do I believe they should. This is one area the market should be left to make the decision. I think the 'standards committee' must be very careful in what it does. It does not represent the entire OS-9 community. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- End of Thread. -*- 83236 21-NOV 02:34 General Information RE: Scheduled Conferences (Re: Msg 83134) From: DGANTZ To: RANDYKWILSON Thanks Randy. I've burned up nearly 15 hours in conference. Guess I really should have asked what are the best hours to catch familiar names from the CoCo/OS9 community such as those from Rainbow and the RiBBS community such as Charles West? Or do they vary greatly? Thanx again. Dave -*- 83237 21-NOV 02:38 General Information RE: Scheduled Conferences (Re: Msg 83137) From: DGANTZ To: MITHELEN Thanks. Pardon me for being new, but I don't recognize your handle and possibly have never met up with you before. I'll try a /whois when done but just in case, what is your real name? Dave -*- 83269 22-NOV 00:49 General Information RE: Scheduled Conferences (Re: Msg 83237) From: MITHELEN To: DGANTZ Welp, I was at the last two Atlanta Fests... And all the chicago Fests in the last, um 6 years... I live in the Chicago Area... -- Paul Jerkatis - OS-9 Users Group, Inc.: V.P. of Communications SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com -*- 83305 23-NOV 04:31 General Information RE: Scheduled Conferences (Re: Msg 83269) From: DGANTZ To: MITHELEN Oh yeah. I've seen your name floating around the CoCo (and perhaps the fidonet) community on occassion. We'll hope to be in touch more on OS9 and the CoCo more in the future. Thanx for the reply. Dave -*- End of Thread. -*- 83238 21-NOV 02:40 General Information MO From: DGANTZ To: MARKGRIFFITH Hi Mark. Just wondering if you have received my money order for the modem yet? -*- 83310 23-NOV 07:06 General Information RE: MO (Re: Msg 83238) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: DGANTZ (NR) > Hi Mark. Just wondering if you have received my money order for the > modem yet? Hmmm....(shuffle shuffle) Ah! Here it is. Yes, got it and got some modems in that were on back order. You'll have it shortly! /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- End of Thread. -*- 83243 21-NOV 09:58 Programmers Den pro From: WOAY To: ALL Help! Some given, some asked for. I finally found out why cc_2_5_0 wouldn't use the ramdisk. In this case I may be at fault, as I can't recall if I had re-compiled it, or was running the actual downloaded code. However I do have it using the /r0 device for scratch files once again. I thought I was using the latest cstart.r module available, but somehow the one in my /dd/libs dir wasn't the one posted here as "cstart.ar". I got it, re-compiled cc_2_5_0, and it works now. The other (replacement) cstart.r apparently was munging the Y register and destroying access to any strings that might have been contained in your .r files at link time. This may also be why I couldn't get the newer versions of rz/sz (3_24) to work. Time to check that needed too. So if you are not using that cstart.r, and seem to have string problems with your C code, get it (cstart.ar), you'll like it! Like others here, I've not been too bashful about grabbing any programmers tools made available, however my source is Delphi only, no internet connections have been enabled. Because of that, and the fact that I hear "ansifront" is now up to version .9, I need someone to go retrieve the latest version and post it here if perms can be obtained. The latest posting here is .6. Thats by Vaughn Cato I think, and my thanks to whoever goes after it. How 'bout them 'err's? Look out BC, we'll be there friday. Cheers, Gene (WOAY) -*- 83250 21-NOV 15:56 System Modules (6809) Printer From: CLTUCKER To: ALL My /p prints ok not connected to SIG's. Also OK on OS9. When printing the screen on Delphi it prints periods and letters. ra.t co.....mme etc. Any suggestions out there? (:-) -*- 83251 21-NOV 16:20 Games & Graphics MVCanvas From: MICHAELJN To: MIKEHAALAND Can I still call you at the listed number here on Delphi? I need some assitance on MVCanvas. -*- 83357 25-NOV 01:28 Games & Graphics RE: MVCanvas (Re: Msg 83251) From: MIKEHAALAND To: MICHAELJN At the moment, I'm not in Las Vegas. I have a new job in Denver, CO and am staying with a friend. Can the problem be resolved in Mail? (Delphi Mail). -*- End of Thread. -*- 83252 21-NOV 16:32 System Modules (6809) RE: Interleave Factors (Re: Msg 83060) From: RICKMAC To: DSRTFOX Thanks very much for leaving such a long and detailed message, but I think my query was as to whether you can run a disk with an interleave factor of 2 with a system that has some disks and the device driver coded for an interleave factor of 3 without screwing up the system or the disks. Yes, I know I can use "dmode" to change the interleave factor, but to do this every time you put a diiferently formatted disk in is a hassle. -*- 83262 21-NOV 21:43 System Modules (6809) RE: Interleave Factors (Re: Msg 83252) From: DSRTFOX To: RICKMAC You're going to have to experiment on that one! Use DMODE to change the interleave on a couple disks, then reboot with your standard system. I don't think there will be a problem, as the controller should read the disk REGARDLESS of the interleave, it will just be slower or faster reading. I don't think the interleave factor of the driver/controller comes into play except during formatting.... at least that is the case with hard drives. -*- 83263 21-NOV 21:43 System Modules (6809) RE: Interleave Factors (Re: Msg 83252) From: WOAY To: RICKMAC In a word, yes you can. I do disks here at ilv=5 for bru, then read them back with the defualt of 3 set. Now I haven't checked specifically with the drivers I'm using right now (Disto's SCII, native moded) but I've never had a miss-fire from writing to a disk that had a different formatted in interleave than what the descriptor contained at the instant. I use dmode on 2 occasions normally, one to set the size of my ramdisk, and two to set the larger ilv asionally if I know a whopper file is coming in, I'll set sas=ff on the maxtor so I don't get the segment list in the fd full to overflowing which will then error out rz and sometimes mung the file map on the drive a bit. Cheers, Gene (WOAY) -*- 83421 27-NOV 11:31 System Modules (6809) RE: Interleave Factors (Re: Msg 83263) From: RICKMAC To: WOAY Thanks for the info - I feel confident that nothing will "die" if I try the different interleave factors. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83254 21-NOV 17:57 General Information Club Network From: THESCHU To: ALL Good afternoon to all. My name is Brian Schubring, ( Delphi name > THESCHU < ). I am a member of the ' GlenSide Color Computer Club ' of ILLINOIS. I would like to introduce myself as the new 1994 Club President of this international club. With the turn of the new year I would like to see the expansion of the information net of other Clubs here and abroad. One of this clubs main objectives is to provide an information and support base through our Newsletters , BBS's and of course our members and thier input. This of course includes the sharing of newsletters with other Clubs throughout the CoCo community. This is one of my goals for this Club and for other Clubs with the same ideas of growth and to CREATE a National database of members and/or clubs so someone can find a club near them. This would be a database to be shared by all clubs that would be interested. The Proposition: What I would like to see is that anyone who reads this message and who is interested in strengthen this network of clubs please contact me here on Delphi thru E-MAIL via > THESCHU < or mail any information to: Brian schubring President, GCCC 208 GlenEllyn Rd. #306 BloomingDale IL 60108 This message my be uploaded to any and all BBS's with my permission and encouragement. The future of the CoCo community is in the hands of all who use and enjoy the CoCo. So lets band together and continue to support all who try so hard give us the best future and information possible for the CoCo Community. Best Regards to all. Brian Schubring - President GCCC '94 -*- 83451 28-NOV 11:24 General Information RE: Club Network (Re: Msg 83254) From: LUCKYONE To: THESCHU Hi, Brian. I forgot to congratulate you on your election at the meeting so let me do it now. I wish you great success and I look forward to working with you. Good luck on your net working idea. Howard, Secretary of the Glenside Club Howard Luckey delphi LUCKYONE CIS 74746,3207 ********** By InfoXpress 1.01 of course! ********** -*- End of Thread. -*- 83259 21-NOV 21:14 General Information OS9 Users Group From: 2RSMITH To: ALL I read in Frank's "world of 68' Micros that a S-9 Users Group has been formed and (make that OS-9 NOT S-9) I read the constitution which is well organized. Just wondering what my $25 will do for me if I send to address shown? I would like to use OS-9 more EXcept some of my downloads (using Supercomm) show I need to know to adapt them with machine language qwhich I am not copnversant (conversant ?) with. I have been disappointed that many programs are SRC files.I understand from DSRTFOX that I need Tandy's EDTASM editor/assembler etc. I use Miller's TED program occassionally but hacew no way to change fonts on my DMP-107 printer (have not hacew), except by setting it up before I load os-9 and TED. I have all the patches for Supercomm and it works fine now on Ymodem batch but still have trouble with Zmodem although I d/l'd both SZ and RZ and placed in my CMDS file. Disregard my gripes as I haven't used OS9 for some time now--find it easier to stick with DTERM on DECB @ 1200 baud as 2400 has a lot of traffic. Ray -*- 83271 22-NOV 02:07 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83259) From: ISC To: 2RSMITH Ray, About your troubles with rz sz in Supercomm. Zmodem is a continuously streaming protocol for downloading or uploading in telecom. If you were using it trying to download to a diskette drive, you probably got errors and CRC problems as you were downloading. You must use a hard disk or a ramdisk for good results with Zmodem. I use a ramdisk and the new version of rz sz available here when I run Supercomm, and I find that Zmodem downloads are smooth and fast at 2400 baud. Bill -*- 83311 23-NOV 07:06 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83271) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: ISC Bill, > About your troubles with rz sz in Supercomm. Zmodem is a continuously > streaming protocol for downloading or uploading in telecom. Except when downloading from Delphi. I only get the first three or four packets streamed, then it goes into the send and wait mode. Sheeesh. Delphi has always been the slowest to download anything from. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83333 24-NOV 02:28 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83311) From: MITHELEN To: MARKGRIFFITH I've no experiance with pay services other then Delphi, but, isn't the slowness mostly dow to the fact you are connected through a Packet Network have a LOT to do with the download slowness... I've logged into Delphi direct before, and things fly along real nicely. Course, the LD bills can kill your bank account real fast... -*- 83335 24-NOV 03:06 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83311) From: ISC To: MARKGRIFFITH Mark, I hadn't understood what was going on with Delphi's zmodem downloads until you pointed out that Delphi was going to the send and wait mode. The buffers for downloading on the Delphi system must be very small or slow??? Interesting point. Bill -*- 83346 24-NOV 13:22 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83335) From: MITHELEN To: ISC Delphi DOESN'T go to "send and wait" mode...it just looks that way due to network delays. -*- 83411 27-NOV 05:48 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83333) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MITHELEN David, > I've no experiance with pay services other then Delphi, but, isn't the > slowness mostly dow to the fact you are connected through a Packet > Network have a LOT to do with the download slowness... I've logged into > Delphi direct before, and things fly along real nicely. That may be true, but I can logon to Compuserve from Tymnet and not get the same problem downloading with their B+ protocol. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83422 27-NOV 12:36 General Information RE: OS9 Users Group (Re: Msg 83411) From: MITHELEN To: MARKGRIFFITH perhaps CIS has faster connection/service to the packet networks... which might explain why it is a more expensive service. I would imagine that that Tymenet/Sprintnet offer systems like Delphi/AOL/CIS/GENIE/... different rates for grades of network connections. Some systems may pay more to get a higher priority on the packet network, and thus those systems get better throughput... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com Please, Send Money! My hard drive crashed, and I'm too broke to get a new one. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83260 21-NOV 21:17 Programmers Den RE: buzzing noises in OS-9 (Re: Msg 83118) From: MODEL299 To: DGANTZ The startrek I am considering would be a BASIC09 program. If you are running a 6309 and have patched your system then that would add some speed. Although I do not intend to get strongly into graphics I intend to put several of the displays on the screen at the same time instaed of calling each one every time you want it. I am also going to try to work appropriate sound files into the program so that when you fire a weapon or lose shields you will hear it happen. I still have to work out some required routines. Mark -*- 83304 23-NOV 04:28 Programmers Den RE: buzzing noises in OS-9 (Re: Msg 83260) From: DGANTZ To: MODEL299 These improvements to the Star Trek game sound great! More info on the screen and sound effects. The only thing left for someone else would be the graphics. Cheers from me. Don't know that I can, but let me know if I can help. Dave -*- End of Thread. -*- 83261 21-NOV 21:39 General Information RE: HARD DRIVE (Re: Msg 83107) From: DSRTFOX To: JOHNREED John, the Tandy OS-9 Hard Drive Controller was designed to work with the Model II/IV type hard drives which had a special built in controller, NOT SCSI, but something Tandy specific. The 1000 and 1200 series were PC and PC/XT clones, respectively. So your drive (if made for a 1200) would be a standard MFM type drive. -*- 83450 28-NOV 09:50 General Information RE: HARD DRIVE (Re: Msg 83261) From: JOHNREED To: DSRTFOX > John, the Tandy OS-9 Hard Drive Controller was designed to work with the Model > II/IV type hard drives which had a special built in controller, NOT SCSI, but > something Tandy specific. The 1000 and 1200 series were PC and PC/XT clones, > respectively. So your > drive (if made for a 1200) would be a standard MFM type drive. > Yeah, it is a "standard" MFM drive (or it was, it finally died). I bought it in the hope that it would be one of those older Tandy types that would work with the "Tandy Hard Disk Controller" - which I also bought - it didn't work, of course. Then I got the B&B stuff. John R. Wainwright <> <> *********** InfoXpress ************ -*- End of Thread. -*- 83265 21-NOV 22:33 General Information RE: Using fsave with a floptical drive (Re: Msg 83124) From: LUCKYONE To: MARKGRIFFITH > Yeah, fsave isn't really very good. Have you been using it before with > no problems or is this the first time you did a backup? You might try > using tar. It is much more reliable and faster too. This is the first time I've done a backup. I'll check out tar and your hdbackup. Thanks for your reply. Howard Luckey delphi LUCKYONE CIS 74746,3207 ********** By InfoXpress 1.01 of course! ********** -*- 83312 23-NOV 07:06 General Information RE: Using fsave with a floptical drive (Re: Msg 83265) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: LUCKYONE Howard, > This is the first time I've done a backup. I'll check out tar and > your hdbackup. Thanks for your reply. Tar works the fastest, but it won't cross media. This means when you get to the end of a floptical, it will error out and stop. You'll have to plan your backups to do certain directories to each floptical so you won't exceed it's capacity. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83406 27-NOV 04:21 General Information RE: Using fsave with a floptical drive (Re: Msg 83312) From: JOELHEGBERG To: MARKGRIFFITH Mark, > > This is the first time I've done a backup. I'll check out tar and > > your hdbackup. Thanks for your reply. I just thought I'd reply to this thread since I've just backed up my hard drive a second time using 'hdbackup' and things went great. Very glad you wrote it! Thanks! -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83416 27-NOV 06:35 General Information RE: Using fsave with a floptical drive (Re: Msg 83406) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: JOELHEGBERG Joel, > I just thought I'd reply to this thread since I've just backed up my > hard drive a second time using 'hdbackup' and things went great. Very > glad you wrote it! Thanks! Thanks! I just wish I could make it faster. Oh well. Maybe someone will take it from here and improve upon it. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- End of Thread. -*- 83270 22-NOV 00:56 Programmers Den VEF From: EARTHER To: ALL I need to write a simple Basic09 routine to read and display VEF files. Does someone know the format of VEF files? Was there ever an article about doing this in The Rainbow? Which issue? Thanks. --Shawn Driscoll -*- 83277 22-NOV 19:43 Programmers Den RE: VEF (Re: Msg 83270) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: EARTHER i posted a file called "revef" which is a basic09 program to reverse a VEF picture. I included source code. I also extracted a segment from the manual of multi-vue canvas which describes the VEF format. I don't think Mike Haaland would mind if i posted that so here goes!! Vef file information first two bytes .. header information Standard Squashed Scr type Screen size Colors Size -------- -------- -------- ----------- ------ ---- 0000 8000 8 320 X 200 16 32K 0001 8001 7 640 X 200 4 32K 0003 8003 6 320 X 200 4 16K 0004 8004 5 640 X 200 2 16K 16 bytes for palette information. Uncompressed - raw data just put it on the screen compressed char len - number of bytes to read and decode to restore 1/2 scan line of screen data. 1/2 scan line is 80 bytes on type 7 or 8 screen. 40 bytes for type 5 or 6. (40/80 are decimal values) char count- compressed/uncompressed byte count. if data is compressed: char data - if data is uncompressed char data[count] - if data is uncompressed header data found only once in beginning of file. to decode compressed data, read the first byte, call it len, its the lenght of the compressed 1/2 scan line, now read 'len' bytes into the array. now we just decode it. get 1st byte in buffer and check for high bit. it is our 'count' byte (if high bit set and its compressed) strip high bit and put the next byte 'count' times. if the high bit isn't set. get the next 'count' bytes from the buffer and put them on the screen. This continues until you use 'len' bytes that are in the buffer. when the buffer is decoded read then next 'len' byte from the file and do it again. this will repeat 400 times from the file. please note: the REVEF program i wrote does not display the VEF picture, it creates a new file with the picture reversed horizontally. The reason for this was to make iron-on t-shirts. If you cannot find the program I will upload it here. But i believe I did upload it here. Mike -*- End of Thread. -*- 83280 22-NOV 20:18 General Information READing NEW NS From: JIMHRUBIK To: ALL A while back some folks were asking about how to read chunks of the forum. I've had problems with READ NEW NS, especially when /r0 would overflow (and even a 360K floppy). I think I have a solution for SuperComm users who don't have a hard drive (like me). With SuperComm running under Multi-Vue, open a shell on the GShell screen (or anywhere else, I guess). Start an ASCII download file and READ NEW NS. Watch the counter for the buffer. With my 128K ramdisk, it takes about six 'fill-ups' to overfill my ramdisk so after the fifth flush of the buffer, I send a CTRL-S to Delphi. This freezes the action, and I then use SHIFT-DN ARROW, choose ASCII capture, and close the open file. With the CLEAR key, jump to the open shell and copy the ramdisk file to a floppy, delete the file in the ramdisk, and key back to SuperComm. Use SHIFT-DN ARROW to start another ASCII capture, and hit CTRL-Q to tell Delphi to let 'er rip. You can do this as many times as you need to, and even split the download across several floppies. It's not elegant, but it works. -*- 83281 22-NOV 21:30 General Information Eliminator From: WTHOMPSON To: ALL Does anyone know if the Eliminator is available anymore? I'm pretty sure that Frank Hogg no longer carries them. Does anyone else have them? Thanks, Wayne -*- 83320 23-NOV 20:50 General Information RE: Eliminator (Re: Msg 83281) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: WTHOMPSON as far as i know FHL no longer carries CoCo hardware. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83289 22-NOV 23:58 General Information upgrade cpu for mm1 From: TEDJAEGER To: ALL I know I read a couple of pages written by Zack Sessions regarding his experiences upgrading the microprocessor on the mm1. Could somebody remind me if it was posted here? If so, where? --Thanks, ---TedJaeger -*- 83290 23-NOV 00:47 General Information RE: upgrade cpu for mm1 (Re: Msg 83289) From: RANDYKWILSON To: TEDJAEGER Yeah, I remember Zack doing a mini review and installation guide. He posted it to this forum, and it was after the fest. That's all I remember. So, since this forum seems to do about 1000 posts per month, let's look in the last 1500 or so.... FORUM> dir 81500: from colorsystems and to all Msg Date From To Top Subject 81563 26-SEP COLORSYSTEMS ALL Gen dumb terminals for sale 81639 28-SEP COLORSYSTEMS ALL Gen 3.5 HD disk for sale 82012 9-OCT COLORSYSTEMS ALL Gen Review: 340 Upgrade 82013 9-OCT COLORSYSTEMS ALL Mus General MIDI for UmuseK 83005 14-NOV COLORSYSTEMS ALL OSK KWindows-MM/1 question 83129 17-NOV COLORSYSTEMS ALL Gen Repacking MM/1 question 83206 20-NOV COLORSYSTEMS ALL OSK forwarded message Ah, looks like you want #82012. The forum software does have some seriously powerful seach functions, *if* you can guess the correct syntax. Took me four tries. :> Randy -*- 83327 23-NOV 22:11 General Information RE: upgrade cpu for mm1 (Re: Msg 83290) From: TEDJAEGER To: RANDYKWILSON Thanks for that info and demonstration. BTW I have learned (with your help) how to diable flow control and handshaking so that I can at least use my new modem as a standard 2400 baud unit. I'm making progress and will try to get the paddleboards. What are those things anyway? Just something to plug into the IO boards to make the serail ports accessible? --TedJaeger -*- 83330 23-NOV 23:04 General Information RE: upgrade cpu for mm1 (Re: Msg 83327) From: RANDYKWILSON To: TEDJAEGER Ah. sorry if the "demo" was a little much. I get a bit silly sometimes, like after 2am. :> The paddle boards are a bit more than an extension cable, though they do that too. The main function is to convert the TTL level signals to/from the mother board to RS232 levels. In addition, they offer many options via jumpers. You can configure ethe port to be DTE or DCE, and forcethe state of various lines. With Delphi, you can try 9600, just so long as you don't send. By send, I don't mean typing. I mean file uploads, ascii blasts, etc. The problem is lack of any handshake. Delphi, *normally*, will not send fast enough to swamp the MM/1, but the reverse can easily happen. Randy -*- End of Thread. -*- 83293 23-NOV 01:49 General Information Antiques From: RICHKOTTKE To: ALL So how old will a computer have to be before it is considered an antique? When can I expect to get $10,000 at Christy's Auction House for a vintage 1982 COCO-I? How about an Altair 8008? Who decides these thing? (you laugh but guess how much an Edsel is worth today!) -Rich -*- 83316 23-NOV 20:08 General Information RE: Antiques (Re: Msg 83293) From: DSRTFOX To: RICHKOTTKE I'm not sure Rich, but dig up a Boston phone book at a large library. There is a computer museum somewhere in the Boston area, though I don't recall a name or exact location. -*- 83397 26-NOV 22:58 General Information RE: Antiques (Re: Msg 83316) From: THETAURUS To: DSRTFOX >> I'm not sure Rick, but dig up a Boston Phone book at a large library. There is a computer museum somewhere in the Boston area, though I don't recall a name or exact location. Anyone looking for info on the Boston Computer Museum, which Frank was reffering to, can find in the Delphi Boston regional section. It is in one of the submenus, dealing with museums and tourist attractions in the Boston area. I have the day off tomorrow, and may head down there myself, if I'm confident enough I can find it. >Chris< -*- End of Thread. -*- 83301 23-NOV 03:53 General Information Hi From: DGANTZ To: WOAY Hi, Gene. I'll have to be honest in that I haven't a clue as to my thread that lead you to reply to me. Appreciate the reply tho. You'll have to forgive as I am new to Delphi and still trying to find my way around. I'm kinda like a sighted man in a pitch black room. I know some familiar things to look for but can't see them (cause there labeled differently :-). Dave -*- 83326 23-NOV 21:56 General Information RE: Hi (Re: Msg 83301) From: WOAY To: DGANTZ (NR) I guess it because I do a download of all new forum msgs with a "read new ns ft" entry, and just let it fly by to a disk file (I've got a 124.25 mbyte drive) and then read it all after I'm offline most of the time. I'm online right now tho. If you've got the disk space, or a ramdisk, I'd do that. Then you can cpompose the answers offline and send them the next time you are online since a one page send is only 15 secs at 2400 baud. Cheers, Gene -*- End of Thread. -*- 83306 23-NOV 05:14 General Information Keybounce From: JWILKERSON To: ALL Is there a way under level 2 to eliminate keybounce problems? There was a patch to level 1 that did this... is there anything similar for leve 2 Thanks -- John -*- 83317 23-NOV 20:09 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83306) From: DSRTFOX To: JWILKERSON Has your keyboard PIA been replaced with a standard 6821 or 6822 rather than the LSCxxxxx chip? The only difference between the custom chip and the 6821/22 is that hte custom has pull-up resistors built in. MIKE _GUZZI can provide more info... that's where I got it! -*- 83322 23-NOV 21:02 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83317) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: DSRTFOX yep, thats the only difference is the pullups. I THINK the values used are 4.7K ohms. that could be the cause of keyboard bounce if you replaced the PIA. since tandy no longer makes the LSC80001 chips (i think thats the number) Mike -*- 83350 24-NOV 20:45 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83317) From: JWILKERSON To: DSRTFOX I believe my CoCo has a 6821 already. I've remembered seeing that chip on the left side of the board. -- John -*- 83398 26-NOV 22:58 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83306) From: THETAURUS To: JWILKERSON What is a 'keybounce problem'? This is the first time I've noticed that term :-) >Chris< -*- 83400 27-NOV 00:09 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83398) From: JWILKERSON To: THETAURUS It is when uoi hit a key, and TWO chars. appear onscreen. Hit, say, an "a", and "aa" shows up. Something to do with the key repeat speed or something. Using ths system settings in Multivue will correct this by dropping the key repeat speed, but, unfortunately, I've been unable to save these settings to my boot. Seeya -- John -*- 83402 27-NOV 01:05 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83400) From: COCOKIWI To: JWILKERSON not quite! it is the contacts of the switch sometimes bouncing the cure is to shortening the time the switch connects,that deletes the second connect...called debouncing! saving the control file should do it,it cannot be saved in the boot..... look at the envelope file......in Sys....Dennis -*- 83424 27-NOV 13:02 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83402) From: JWILKERSON To: COCOKIWI Oh, I have the env file saved. Sooo, if I fire up MV first, I have no pro- blems at all. BUT, I do not want to goto all this trouble all the time. The problem is not that serious. If there was a way to increase the time between key repeats, savable to boot, then my problem would go away permanently. -- John -*- 83433 27-NOV 19:55 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83424) From: ILLUSIONIST To: JWILKERSON just put the line "control e" (or is it control -e) in your startup file that will make control (the MV "control" module) read the env.file and there are go...it seems to me you could patch cc3io with new values for key repeat..I will try and find the offsets.. till then, use control e... -* Mike of cource, control has to be in /dd/cmds -*- 83446 28-NOV 06:19 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83433) From: JWILKERSON To: ILLUSIONIST OK, cool deal, I'll edit startup and see what it does. Thanks. -- John -*- 83454 28-NOV 13:13 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83306) From: STEWARD To: JWILKERSON There is a patch to cc3io for keybounce, but I can't find my book from Dale Puckett, I think it was called OS9 level 2, windowing system or something like that. The patch is in there. -*- 83462 28-NOV 13:52 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83424) From: WTHOMPSON To: JWILKERSON the NitrOS-9 CC3Go update for the latest version allows you set the keyboard repeat delay/speed as well a few other parameters. Yet another reson to get Nitro! I don't know how I got along without it! Thanks, Wayne -*- 83475 28-NOV 19:37 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83306) From: STEWARD To: JWILKERSON I found the patch for ya. It's l cc3io c 7e 1e 3e c 86 03 06 v This is a modpatch script. I think the first doubles the amount of time before it will repeat, and the second increases the delay between chars. -*- 83524 29-NOV 04:54 General Information RE: Keybounce (Re: Msg 83475) From: JWILKERSON To: STEWARD I did the patch. didn't seem to do much. Still, I need to see if the problem crops up again. Oh wait... I think I see some dealy. so far so good :) Thanks -- John -*- End of Thread. -*- 83318 23-NOV 20:18 General Information Under $1000 OSK System? From: DSRTFOX To: ALL How many people would be interested in a COMPLETE OSK system for under $1000... probably around $900-$950 assembled? This wouldn't be a speed demon, but a basic, entry level system. I'm thinking about assembling a few, and making a component kit available for some savings over a fully assembled system. The systems would carry at least a 30 day warranty. They would have monitor (CGA or mono, most likely), keyboard, case/ps, 20-30mb hard drive (probably MFM), 10MHz 68000, 1MB RAM, and at least one 360 or 720 floppy, and OSK also. The system would be good for those wanting to "test the waters" before buying a more capable, faster, and expensive system, and those on a tight budget. These sytems would also be easily upgradeable to VGA, faster CPU, etc. I'm thinking of introducing this beginner's box in mid February. Would there be any takers? I'll be running an assembly article in "the world of 68' micros". Assembly will be easy, with no soldering required. If there isn't enough interest in assembled units, I will still be interested in offering the component kits for the magazine articles, which will include assembly AND setting up OSK. If interested, please reply to ME in this thread!! -*- 83323 23-NOV 21:03 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83318) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: DSRTFOX The problem: what about compatability with stuff being written for the MM/1 and other 68K machines. Thats a consideration -*- 83353 24-NOV 21:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83318) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX >How many people would be interested in a COMPLETE OSK system for under >$1000... Frank, Systems like this already exist if you consider the following. That the user make use of his existing equipment such as his CoCo to use as a terminal. Two systems are available that cost under $1000. The KiX\20 at under $700 would be operational using the CoCo as a terminal or even buying a used terminal such as I've seen for $50 or less. Hard drives are available for $120 and floppies at $40. The KiX\20 can use 256K SIMS which are almost free ($7-10) Put all this in a $50 case and you have it. The other advantage is that the user could add the 32 bit MGA and GWindows at some future time. We've even kicked around the thought of doing a VSC based video board so that it 'could' run K-Windows. Don't know if there is demand for that tho. In addition there is the CDX68X20 which sells for about $600 and OSK for another 300. I don't think that includes BASIC like the KiX\20 but it is only a few hundred more than the KiX. PT has the PT68K4 boards (I don't have the price) The point is that even at these low prices it is still more than many can afford to come up with... at one time. What we need is a way for these guys to get into OSK a few hundred at a time... There IS a way to do this. Actually we're kicking around a way to get into OSK for about $100... Anyone interested? Frank Hogg - FHL -*- 83356 25-NOV 00:59 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83353) From: ISC To: FHOGG Frank, Why don't you make up a list of configuration choices like the PC boys do and either post it here or send it to me email. I am interested in upgrading, but I am totally confused about which way to go. My problem is, I would like to keep using OS-9. Bill -*- 83362 25-NOV 04:12 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83318) From: EDELMAR To: DSRTFOX Frank, The SYSTEM IV is (and has been) available at under $1000 from DELMAR. It is a fully assembled and tested system shipped ready to use. It uses a 68000 running at 16 MHz, includes OSK V2.4, Microwawre manuals, other documen- tation and has a one year warranty. It's American made. For the do-it- yourselfer, bare and assembled boards are available. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83365 25-NOV 08:52 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83353) From: PHILSCHERER To: FHOGG OSK fer a hundred bucks eh?? Now yer talkin! Happy Thansgiving Frank -*- 83377 25-NOV 20:31 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83353) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: FHOGG Get into OSK for under $100 ??? what kind of idea? a bridge board for a CoCo (like the rocket was supposed to be) or a small computer? Mike -*- 83390 26-NOV 21:00 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83377) From: FHOGG To: MIKE_GUZZI > Get into OSK for under $100 ??? what kind of idea? a bridge board for > a CoCo (like the rocket was supposed to be) or a small computer? Mike, Thought that might get a responce. The main, or one of the main problems in getting a really low cost OSK system is the cost of OSK itself. We include it in the price for the KiX's but when you see it seperate it is usually $300 or so. The trick then is to find a 68000 based something that has OSK as part of it and then make a board to turn it into a full blown 68K computer. Just such a device exists and it doesn't cost much. As a matter of fact most people could justify its cost as a family purchase rather than a computer for themselves. Of course I'm talking about a CD-I player. They have a 15Mhz 68070 and TWO VSC chips, a Meg of RAM and a CD player plus more. Best thing is you can find them now for $399 and that price may go down even further. Now all you need is a plug in cartridge that has a floppy controller on it and you have a 68K computer. The floppy controller could be built for less than my magical $100. It is not much more involved than a controller for a CoCo. Pause while the naysayers get up to speed... Of course it's not quite that simple. While OSK or (CD-RTOS) is in ROM there is still software work that would have to be done to make it plug and play. It is trivial compared to some of the stuff you CoCo guys have done over the years so I'm sure the talent exists. Who then is going to do this work? Not me or anyone at Hazelwood... BUT... I've talked to Mike Smith about this and he will consider making a development plug in board for a CD-I player that would have floppy, SCSI, a serial port (for a terminal) and a monitor ROM derived from the KiX ROM. This would allow tinkering with the CD-I player from a terminal connected to the serial port. Like the KiX the ROM would have code to boot from floppy or SCSI hard disk once 'someone' made something to 'boot'. The cost of this 'dev' board would depend on what you guys end up wanting on it and how many are ordered. As a ballpark expect a price under $200 if 20 are ordered. Once a working system is developed we would design and build the production board with whatever features were needed and offer it for sale. Who or what group did the software would have to decide what they wanted (if anything) for their efforts. Once you can offer a 68K system for less than $500 you would have a better chance to attract new users to our market and that would help everyone. Why even some diehard CoCo users mught make the jump. Pause again while the naysayers catch there breath... The only thing we (Hazelwood and FHL) want from this is the production and sale of the plug in boards for CD-I once software is working. Let the discussion begin. Frank Hogg -- FHL -*- 83391 26-NOV 21:00 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83365) From: FHOGG To: PHILSCHERER Please see message #83390 -*- 83394 26-NOV 21:02 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83356) From: FHOGG To: ISC Bill, That's a good idea. I'll put something together and email it to you. In the meantime you might want to check out message #83390 Frank -*- 83399 26-NOV 22:58 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83362) From: THETAURUS To: EDELMAR >>The System IV is (and has been) available at under $1000 from DELMAR. Frank, how much is the System V going for? I never did hear how much that was going for. I think the current low end systems, like the MM/1 and your System IV are pretty inexpensive. I guess it's not a bad idea for some people who like to build systems up themselves, like most Coco users do, but for some reason, I don't see a reason to start at something like a $100 system and keep on pouring money to build it, when I can just save up a thousand bucks or a little more to get a fairly complete system with the OS and Programming languages. Also, as new,faster machines are coming into the OSk market, I think it is important to keep those inexpensive low end systems on the market, since a good majority of the home users are Coco users, and many won't be willing to spend more than $1000 or $1500 at most for a new OS9 system. That is, at least untill more software is produced, and the availability of good solid,low cost, developement machines can only help the community. When the TC-70 was taken off the market I thought that was a mistake, but as long as one inexpensive 68000 machine is on the market, we should be in good shape. Also, this goes out to anyone who might know. Will there be a review in any of the magazines on any of the newer OSK machines, such as the System V,Kix-20,and Kix-30? I know the accelerator board for the MM/1 will be in Metamorphasis, how about the others? See Ya >Chris< -*- 83401 27-NOV 00:17 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83390) From: WA2EGP To: FHOGG If you can hit a Rat Shack that still has one, their old Memorex CDI machine goes/went for $199.95. Might even be lower (if there is any left). -*- 83403 27-NOV 01:30 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83401) From: EMTWO To: FHOGG Frank, I have a CD-i machine. I think your idea is great. One thing you might want to add to your initial design, that being a addition card edge, so that the full motion video people arn't stuck plugging and unplugging the silly things. I haven't got one of those yet, but I might in the future. -*- 83410 27-NOV 05:11 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83399) From: EDELMAR To: THETAURUS Chris, > Frank, how much is the System V going for? I never did hear how > much that was going for. Please - it's Ed, not Frank :-). The base price of a SYSTEM V is $1995. This includes a 68020 running at 25 MHz, 4 megs of RAM, Professional OS-9 Version 2.4, SYSTEM V documentation, schematics, etc. A 33 MHz option is available. It is shipped fully tested, ready to run by the customer and has a 1 year warranty. > I guess it's not a bad idea for some people who like to build systems up > themselves, like most Coco users do, but for some reason, I don't see a > reason to start at something like a $100 system and keep on pouring money > to build it, when I can just save up a thousand bucks or a little more to > get a fairly complete system with the OS and Programming languages. For those who like to 'roll their own', Peripheral Technology has some refurbished K2 and K4 boards available at some very attractive prices. (K2 = 68000 at 8, 10 or 12 MHz with up to 1 Meg of RAM, K4 = 68000 at 16 MHz with up to 4 Meg of RAM.) They can be contacted at 404-973-2156. > ... but as long as one inexpensive 68000 machine is on the market, we > should be in good shape. For the foreseeable future, the SYSTEM IV will remain in our product line. It is still selling quite well. > Also, this goes out to anyone who might know. Will there be a review in > any of the magazines on any of the newer OSK machines, such as the System V, > Kix-20,and Kix-30? I know the accelerator board for the MM/1 will be in > Metamorphasis, how about the others? I've had at least one discussion with Mark Griffith about doing a review of the SYSTEM V. Also, Mark has offered to write a suite of test programs which would provide a 'figure of merit' of the various machines. I'm not adverse to such independent testing - remember, the SYSTEM IV was the first machine reviewed by RAINBOW when they were considering covering OSK. When Mark is ready, I'll certainly make a SYSTEM V available to him. I showed the SYSTEM V in Chicago last May and Atlanta this past October. Many people 'played' with it and these showings did result in orders. It was also shown in San Diego in September - there is a report of this in the database here by Stephen Carville (PAGAN). Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- 83420 27-NOV 11:14 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83353) From: WTHOMPSON To: FHOGG OSK for around $100? Tell me more!!!! Thanks, Wayne -*- 83436 27-NOV 21:32 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83401) From: FHOGG To: WA2EGP > If you can hit a Rat Shack that still has one, their old Memorex CDI > machine goes/went for $199.95. Might even be lower (if there is any left). NOW you tell us! Had I known I would have gotten all I could. There was only one store in my area that carried them and when I called last year it was special order. That would be a heck of a deal tho. Frank PS I 'spect RS might get calls form stores all over the country next week telling mang. about the sudden renewed interest. -*- 83437 27-NOV 21:36 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83403) From: FHOGG To: EMTWO > Frank, I have a CD-i machine. I think your idea is great. One thing you > might want to add to your initial design, that being a addition card > edge, so that the full motion video people arn't stuck plugging and > unplugging the silly things. I haven't got one of those yet, but I might > in the future. Yep that would be something for the production unit. Would also allow plugging 'other' things in. Look what was 'plugged' into the CoCo over the years. Lots of opportunities here. Frank PS What about a 'review' of your experence with your CDI player. Folks who need to convince their better halfs might could use the info. -*- 83438 27-NOV 21:36 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83420) From: FHOGG To: WTHOMPSON Wayne, Please see my message 83390 Frank -*- 83461 28-NOV 13:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83399) From: FHOGG To: THETAURUS > When the TC-70 was taken off the market I thought that was a mistake > etc etc Chris, Hazelwood and FHL are both market driven. The TC70 was discountinued because nobody wanted to buy it. Just because a machine has a 68000/70 does not make it a bargain. The TC70 SBC sold for $1100 with OSK. The KiX\20 with an MGA board and the same OSK sells for... $1100+-. The full breakdown is this. KiX\20 699.95 (includes 25Mhz '02, ProOSK with C and BASIC) Case Kit 249.95 (includes case/PS/floppy/cable kit) 4 Meg SIMM 299.95 (May change due to the market) Total 1249.85 Add about 20 minutes of your time to assemble it and you have a full working 32 bit OSK system with a 25Mhz 68020, Professional OS9 with C AND >BASIC< and full Microware manuals, full schematics etc. The lowest cost way to get into OSK at this time. This system also has a full 32 bit expansion bus for the 32 bit MGA video card which has been tested fastest of all OSK based GWindows systems. The 32 bit MGA card WITH GWindows costs $599.95. It compares very well to OS9000 based systems with 'local bus' video boards that cost in the $300 area and GWindows for OS9000 that costs $275. The MGA also has a keyboard port and serial mouse port which 'local bus' video boards do not thus making the MGA very competive. SCSI hard drives are now available for $120 and up meaning that you can get a full 25Mhz 32 bit GWindows system for under $1970. The TC70 had a 16 bit bus (which cost extra) and its video was limited to what the VSC could produce. No one in their right mind would buy a TC70 when for just about the same money you could get the KiX\20. Frank Hogg - FHL PS Now that we've finished the house I'll have more time to play... I mean work and I'll be around here more often... Now WHO groaned! -*- 83472 28-NOV 18:05 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83437) From: EMTWO To: FHOGG Frank, While the machine is mine, my niece and nephew also use it. So, we have a good sampleing of ALL available CD-i titles sitting in my living room. My first comment is that Tandy had to be insane to drop CD-i in favor of VIS. The only thing I can think of is that they KNEW they would never sell a VIS unit, if a CD-i unit was within 1000 feet. The VIS systems are S-L-O-W! While the graphics available on the stock CD-i unit are not full motion, they at least appear on the screen in less than a second. We have both Story Machine disks, both 'Tell me WHY' disks, Zelda, Link, Battleship, Text Tiles, Ceasars Casino, Smithonian, Laser Lords, Escape from Cyber city, plus several others. In all cases the interface is easy to use, reasonably intuative, and SMOOTH. There are some wargaming titles comming out in the next several months - a sub simulator, axis & allies, The Battle of Bull Run... All I can say is that I expect to get alot more use out of this system, even it it never developes a harddrive or keyboard. -*- 83477 28-NOV 19:41 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83356) From: FHOGG To: ISC > Why don't you make up a list of configuration choices like the PC boys > do and either post it here or send it to me email. I am interested in > upgrading, but I am totally confused about which way to go. My problem > is, I would lik to keep using OS-9. Bill, Good idea so here goes. First some general comments. All current systems use some common parts. PC cases, power supplies, keyboards, mice, floppy and hard drives. These are more or less commodities that anyone can get very easily. We and Hazelwood decided to concentrate on the guts of the systems rather than complete systems. To do this we had to make the systems very very easy to build. In most cases the assembly time is 20 minutes. It consists of installing the motherboard and drives in the case and connecting the cables. This saves you loads of money as I'm sure you can tell by comparing prices. You can buy the guts of any of the currently available systems from their manufactures. Peripheral Technology has the PT68K, Computer Design Services has the CDX68X20 and FHL/Hazelwood has the KiX series, the KiX\20 and KiX\30. RAM: A basic OSK starting system would need at least 1 Meg of RAM with 2 or 4 better. The KiX systems can use 4 256K SIMMs (for 1 Meg) or 4 of any other size. The KiX's are 32 bits which is why you need 4. 9 Bit SIMMs also work although the 9th bit is ignored. 256K SIMMs can often be found as 'pulls' or ones that were taken out of a computer to upgrade it. I've seen 256K SIMMs pulls for $3. HARD DRIVE: A 40 meg SCSI hard drive would also suffice. If you already had a SCSI hard drive on your coco you could plug that into your KiX without having to reformat it. I've seen 40 Meg Quantums for $119. FLOPPY DRIVE: For a floppy get a 3.5" 720K/1.4Meg to be current. Our system supports 5" drives of all types but we are trying to standardize on 3.5" for the future. $50 or so should get you one. CASE: All of the above systems are designed to fit into standard PC cases. The KiX's support from 4 (KiX\20) to 8 (KiX\30) plug in cards that are full height. This means that the low profile PC cases would not work if you wanted to make use of any of the expansion slots. Plenty of choices from $50 on up. Make sure the power supply is included at this price. CABLES: The KiX systems use ribbon cable assembles exclusively. These are easy to make with components that are common. We also offer a cable kit of all needed internal cables for those who want to use their own case. $89 for the KiX\30 and $99 for the KiX\20. (The KiX\20 has 2 more serial ports than the KiX\30 4 vs 2). External cables are all standard PC serial and parallel types which are also easy to get. We offer a kit that has a mini tower case, floppy drive 720K/1.4Meg and all cables for $249.95. Basically once you've decided on whose 'guts' you want all you need is the above. GUTS: I don't have all the details of systems other than my own so I'll concentrate on the KiX's. I think the KiX\20 is the best buy of all the systems available. It is a 25 Mhz 68020 with 4 serial, 1 parallel port, Battery backed clock, 8K battery backed Static RAM, SCSI interface, floppy controller, 4 expansion slots (One of then is 32 bit) and full documentation including schematics. Plus it will autoboot from floppy or hard drive. It also allows 1,2,4,8 or 16 Meg of SIMMs. What really makes the KiX\20 the best deal is that it comes with Professional OS9/68000 and C. Plus we also include BASIC which is extra cost on other systems (usually $200) The KiX\20 sells for $699.95 with all this and at that price it is $200 LESS than our closest competitor who doesn't include BASIC! The KiX\30's have just gone thru a series of price reductions. The 33Mhz KiX\30 is now $1799.95 which is $700 less than its previous price of $2499.95. The 16Mhz KiX\30 is only $200 less and for that reason everybody is buying the 33Mhz version. In addition to what the KiX\20 has the KiX\30 has a 68030, full DMA, FPU support, 8 slots with 4 being 32 bit. It is more on the lines of a hi-end server while the KiX\20 is more for the individual user. Either of these systems can be used as 'console' systems. That means you connect a terminal (coco can be used as a terminal) to one of the serial ports and use it much as you are using Delphi now. For a full featured GUI we have the MGA card for either system. VIDEO: Both KiXs can use the 32 bit MGA video card. We sell this with GWindows for $599.95. The KiX\30 can use 4 of these where the KiX\20 can only use 1. For the KiX\30 only the first one has to have GWindows so additional MGA cards would only cost $400 each. The MGA is a VGA like card and we recommend a .28 or smaller dot pitch monitor. All monitors tested so far work except those from Tandy. Each MGA has a serial mouse connector and a PS2 style AT keyboard connector. The 32 bit MGA card has 8 bit (256) color with palette and is the fastest GWindows platform for 68K. I hope that this answered your questions. Please let me know if you need clarification on any of this information. Frank Hogg -- FHL -*- 83479 28-NOV 19:57 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83472) From: FHOGG To: EMTWO Thanks very much for that info. I'm surprised you think Tandy made a mistake. Would be the first time for them wouldn't it? Frank -*- 83487 28-NOV 21:20 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83323) From: DSRTFOX To: MIKE_GUZZI The machine will be compatible with ANY "terminal" type software. To run MM/1 specific software would require a copy of K-Windows. A port to the PT68K boards is in the works, should be available some time next year. G-Windows should run as long as the monitor is upgraded later. -*- 83488 28-NOV 21:22 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83353) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Heck Frank, I'm even interested in the $100 deal! Type up a notice I can print in the magazine and I'll see if I can get you some more interest.. -*- 83490 28-NOV 21:28 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83399) From: DSRTFOX To: THETAURUS A review for the MM/1 accelerator board will be in the 15 DEC issue of 68' micros as well. I'm looking for someone with a KiX system to write a review. Know anyone? Will be doing the same for the MM/1 and System IV/V also. -*- 83492 28-NOV 21:35 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83461) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Frank, the system I was talking about would be under $1000 COMPLETE with case and all. Your Kix 20 is over $1200 and you still need a monitor, keyboard, and card for the two. I don't care much for a terminal system, but you could get it for around the $100 0 if you use a terminal. I mentioned under $1000 because I KNOW for SURE I can get the components under that price. I'm looking more at a couople hundered under $1000, around $8000, and NOT a terminal system, but freestanding computer even at that price. W on't have the power of a KiX, just a development/beginner box. DARN!!! That "$8000" should be "$800" !!!!! -*- 83493 28-NOV 21:39 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83362) From: DSRTFOX To: EDELMAR Ed, I've never seen a complete pre listing of your items... how about sending me one? -*- 83494 28-NOV 21:43 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83436) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Frank, the Memorex machines sold by Rat Shack wouldn't do you any good. They ARE NOT "CD-I" machines. They use MS-Windows disks, and a special version of Windows that works through a pointer only. They use a 386 (SX?) processor. -*- 83495 28-NOV 21:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83494) From: ILLUSIONIST To: DSRTFOX uh, rat shack DID sell a CD-I machine, I know, because I saw a CD-I demo for it, and it wasnt VIS, I saw the VIS demo too, they dropped CD-I in favor of VIS..another mistake, possibly only taking 2nd place to dropping the coco, or how about pushing the coco as a game machine rather than souping it up and pushing it as a multi-user OS-9 box??? definition of a mistake in my websters dictionary? Any move made by Tandy. -*- 83496 28-NOV 21:52 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83495) From: DSRTFOX To: ILLUSIONIST Okay, I only know about the VIS idiot-box. I guess the marketing types at RS saw more profit potential in the cheaper VIS box, especially since only minor mods had to be made to existing PC CD-ROM software titles. Think about it a minute. Your software is practically developed already, and the technology is existing and cheap. A few minor mods to your existing PC motherboards, a new case, a new BIOS, and you have a "CD-I" machine! In the true sense of the term, I guess it WAS a "CD-I" machine (is?), but not what we think of... us OS-9 aware types anyway! From a pure marketing standpoint, it sounds great! Now, if they had used a 486SX in it, it just MIGHT have had a better chance! -*- 83498 28-NOV 21:57 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83496) From: ILLUSIONIST To: DSRTFOX true, but OS-9's multitasking makes multimedia stuff look SO much better.. than some crumy version of windows..even if I never heard of OS-9, I would rather pay the xtra $$ for a real CD-I machine that looks good, rather than a VIS.. although the titles wouldnt be as easy to port, although they could be ported from Sega CD (since both use 680x0, wouldnt be as easy though) -*- 83500 28-NOV 22:08 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83436) From: WA2EGP To: FHOGG Well, I did leave a message on the forum when I got it. Never got any comments or replies. I also got a couple of CDI disks too. Played with the machine. Not bad. Better check them out. There might be a few still stuck in an RS in the boonies somewhere. Happy hunting! -*- 83502 28-NOV 22:17 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83494) From: WA2EGP To: DSRTFOX Are you sure you are not mixing up the VIS machines with the Memorex machine? My disks say Philips Interactive Media of America on the front and has a welcome to the world of CDI flyer on the inside. Ah....they even work in the machine (grin). -*- 83513 29-NOV 00:17 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83494) From: JOHNBAER To: DSRTFOX > Frank, the Memorex machines sold by Rat Shack wouldn't do you any good. > They ARE NOT "CD-I" machines. They use MS-Windows disks, and a special > version of Windows that works through a pointer only. They use a 386 (SX?) > processor. Frank.. the Memorex machines that the shack sold ARE CD-i machines. I played with one BEFORE the Shack store had a VIS system to sell. On the front of the machine, below the Memorex name in real tiny letters was `A Philips Product'... Want to have some fun,.. get one of the shack people to place a mid to large size speaker on each side of the VIS machine so you can `hear' the nice stereo sound. Turn up the vol. just a little.. now TRY to use the remote (he he). It won't work at all reliable. This is due to LACK of shielding in the VIS machine!!! The tiny reed switches get `stuck' when in a magnetic field. Also, I found out that the VIS is using a `286' in it. That and windows make it a `bargain' . A side note: I just found out that `Block Buster Video' is tied in with Philips for the `move' end. The Sears store in my area also had 15 movie titles available NOW. Will have the `full motion' card mid December I'm told. Can't wait for that to hit the store . - John Baer johnbaer@delphi.com jbaer@pacs.pha.pa.us *** InfoXpress 1.01.00 *** -*- 83516 29-NOV 00:34 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83513) From: RANDYKWILSON To: JOHNBAER As I remember the story, Tandy had a warehouse full of 286 machines they couldn't du... uh sell to the public. Rumor hs it that someone in Tandy Tower was playing with one of those new CD-i machines that they were selling, and got this idea on how to get rid of that crowded warehouse. hence the dumping of the Memorex boxes and the surprise arrival of VIS. :> Randy -*- 83519 29-NOV 01:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83390) From: RANDYKWILSON To: FHOGG Frank, could you tell us what software is already in a user CD-i box (not a developers system) such that we might get an idea of how much would need written. Is it just a case of adding "dir" and "procs" and such, or is it (as I fear) a case of adding RBF, SCF, drivers, descriptors, usable shell, and *all* other utilities? If what you plan is really feasible, I'd probably go out and pick up a CD-i just to tinker with. Guess I'll also have to get a television to hook it to, too. But, until it is proven feasible, I think it best not to get the CoCo community's hopes up to high. WE don't need another Rocket letdown right now. Randy -*- 83520 29-NOV 02:00 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83492) From: AJMLFCO To: DSRTFOX OK!, Let's check out MY math... Color Monitor $300 Keyboard $ 50 Mouse $ 20 PC case $ 50 PC pwr supply $ 70 floppy $ 60 hard drive $150 Total $700, leaving $300 for OSK, and memory and motherboard and manuals....or does one assume one already has most of the hardware? Allen -*- 83522 29-NOV 04:50 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83496) From: PAGAN To: DSRTFOX >Now, if they had used a 486SX in it, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I recall reading (Dr. Dobb's maybe?) that the new 'minimum' requirement for multi media _is_ a 486SX at 25Mhz. Most existing CD-ROM titles require at least a '286 and most of the new ones require a 386SX-16. Stephen (PAGAN) -*- 83523 29-NOV 04:53 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83390) From: LMCCLURE To: FHOGG "Now all you need is a plug in cartridge that has a floppy controller on it and you have a 68K computer." Wouldn't you also need a keyboard port or at least an RS-232 port to attach a terminal to? I imagine running OSK apps with the CD-I controller could get a bit difficult! "Once you can offer a 68K system for less than $500 you would have a better chance to attract new users to our market and that would help everyone." If you are counting on the person already having a terminal (or another computer), a floppy drive, and a CD-I machine, isn't that restricting the market just a bit? After all, even at $100 for an interface, no cost for a terminal (admittedly, *most* people interested in the product would likely have another computer), add $399 for a CD-I player and a bit more for a floppy drive, and you are a bit over $500. Still, I think the idea has merit. Of course, so would a good, relatively inexpensive OSK port for the Amiga 1200 (possibly with new ROMs for booting OSK). -*- 83529 29-NOV 06:08 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83494) From: JEJONES To: DSRTFOX > Frank, the Memorex machines sold by Rat Shack wouldn't do you any good. > They ARE NOT "CD-I" machines. VIS is indeed not CD-I, but back when Tandy did sell CD-I machines, those CD-I players had the Memorex label. Opinions herein are those of their respective authors, and not necessarily those of any organization. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83532 29-NOV 19:09 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83519) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON I am pretty sure that RBF and SCF are in ROM, drivers for the screen should be there, and drivers for the CD drive have to be there too, I am faily sure that SCF is on memory, I read of OS-9 Midi, it the Midi driver is used under SCF, and OS-9 Midi is usable under CD-RTOS, the screen driver is probably under SCF too, but I bet a special driver would be needed because I doubt Philips has an ASCII char. set in the hardware. Maybe they do, I dunno. Obviously, drivers for the SCSI drives and floppies would be needed, as well as for the serial port. I would think that Microware would have had RBF included with CD-RTOS, I mean, a CD would be a random access device... I would like to see how all that is done, I mean, I wonder if this system would allow, say a "dir /cd" with of course "/cd" being the cd-rom drive Microware DOES offer a util. set for use with a cd-i machine that has a floppy drive (apparently high-end systems do) as far as I know, this util set is exactly that, shell and all the cmds. so maybe the screen I/O drivers for plain ascii text would already be there. If all this materializes, I would like to see aport of gwindows or something I mean, it would be nice to play a cd-i game in one "window" or screen and be on here chatting with you guys...hehehe, actually, if I wanted to do all that, and play the game "well" maybe I would have to port OS-9 to my brain , I dont know if I could handle it otherwise.. -* Mike -*- 83533 29-NOV 19:23 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83532) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Actually, Mike, I do know that CD-RTOS does not use RBF to access the disk (CD). Think about it. RBF only knows about the standard OS9 disk architecture. The CD-Rom is in an ISO standard. From scanning my OSK (2.4) defs files and such, I have gathered that the manager used is named CDFM, and is very different from RBF. So, the question is... did the makers have the forsight to waste a bit of ROM space for the unused RBF in the interests of future expansion? Personally, having never seen the insides of one of these machines, I think we'll find *only* the stuff needed to make the CD-i run. I do not expect to find RBF, any more than I would expect to find it in a traffic light controller. But as I said to Frank, if the partys involved had the foresight to include enough to make a basic, usable personal computer in every box, then I'm all ears. Go for it. Randy -*- 83535 29-NOV 21:19 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83533) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON hmmm, that is interesting..I guess the real question know is if the makers of the other "high end" CD-I machines (not all of them are made by philips) use Philips ROM chips, or if all CD-I roms are the same, if they are all the same, then RBF and SCF definatly do have to be in there, since high end CD-I machines include floppy support (and even a future home version of CD-I is supposed to include a singe 3.5 floppy) Hopefully philips holds some sort of rights somehow to the cd-i roms, or at least made it a standard that all cd-i machines include the same modules..hopefully Frank will make the system have 2 serial ports (one for a terminal, the other for a modem), or make a "console" option for the future, for gfx stuff and an "ibm" type keyboard otherwise, getting OSk software into this CD-i/Osk machine will be a real beast..with only 1 serial port..it would be close to impossible.. -* Mike -*- 83536 29-NOV 21:27 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83520) From: MITHELEN To: AJMLFCO Well, I'd say your priceing for the "standard" components are rather on the high side, here's my list list of prices for standard components that probably isn't even as low as it could be is stuff was bought in quantity. MONOchrome Monitor < $100 (bare bones intro/developement system) Keyboard $ 30 Mouse $ 10 PC case w/150 watt PS $ 60 floppy (1.44 meg 3.5") $ 50 hard drive (80 meg 5.25" HH) < $150 Thats $400... I just save you $300. (You can mail me the left over 8-) and I didn't even TRY... A PTK2 board can be had for less then 150$ I believe. Not sure what size/type memory they take. But lets say memory cost another $100 for 2 meg... Thats give you a complete system for $550... with OS-9... Not to shabby.... I'm sure that is Frank does decide to package a low cost system up, he can beat the prices I stated above. -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83540 29-NOV 22:03 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83535) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, as I stated before, I don't know. I have reason to suspect that the included ROM code is minimal, but after persueing my resources, I still don't have a solid answer. So I asked. >same, then RBF and SCF definatly do have to be in there, since high end >CD-I machines include floppy support (and even a future home version of CD-I >is supposed to include a singe 3.5 floppy) Hopefully philips holds some sort We are talking the mass (home) market machine here. Yes, there are CD-i systems with full terminal and disk support. That's why I made the distintion between home and developer machine. I did price a developers machine a few years ago. For the money they wanted, you could buy a MM/1, KiX/30, System V, *and* a used car. To be fair, the machine included all kinds of CD-i development aids and libraries and such. Still, definately not a home machine. >cd-i machines include the same modules..hopefully Frank will make the system >have 2 serial ports (one for a terminal, the other for a modem), or make >a "console" option for the future, for gfx stuff and an "ibm" type keyboard >otherwise, getting OSk software into this CD-i/Osk machine will be a real >beast..with only 1 serial port..it would be close to impossible.. Hmmm, you talk like it's a done deal. This is what I'm trying to avoid until some more facts are in. Is this idea workable?? Dunno. And, really, I don't think Frank knows for sure, either. Go back and reread Frank's original message. I have several times now. It appears to me that Frankis saying that he's looking into making a limited board for a few brave souls to go exploring with. If this exploration pans out, and the people are able to reverse engineer the missing OSK parts, then he will do a production run of ???? So, back to the original question. What is in the runtime CD-RTOS rom? How valid of an idea is this?? Randy -*- 83541 29-NOV 22:13 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83523) From: WTHOMPSON To: LMCCLURE I would love to see an inexpensive port of OSK to the Amiga! New ROMs for OSK would be icing on the cake! Wayne -*- 83543 29-NOV 22:26 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83540) From: RANDYKWILSON To: RANDYKWILSON Mike, one other thing that I gleaned from reading the defs files. Just hit me that it applies here: OS-9 (6809) was designed so that only the kernel and BOOT (coco also needs REL) have to be in ROM. When the kernel is initializing, if it can't find things needed, like INIT, it calls F$Boot. This call executes the boot module to load the (rest of the) bootfile from some other media. OSK does not work this way. It expects everything needed to be loaded into ram at once. Doesn't matter if it's coming from disk or out of ROM. However, CDFM has the capabilities of doing a F$Boot call, just like 6809. This makes it so that only the kernel, CDFM, and whatever screen drivers, are in ROM, even on a developers machine. It would allow them to put things like disk drivers, RBF, serial and printer stuff, etc. into a boot file on a CD. Ah yes. Shades of our favorite machine. You end up with this game machine, with all kinds of weird add-ons and external drives. Stick in this special disk, type in the magic command, and BOOM: inistant OS9 box. :> Note that this is purely hypothetical. The only evidence supporting it is the existance of a F$Boot capability in CDFM. And it makes sense financially. Randy -*- 83549 29-NOV 22:40 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83488) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX > Heck Frank, I'm even interested in the $100 deal! Type up a notice > I can print in the magazine and I'll see if I can get you some more > interest.. Thanks, but I don't plan to go further unless there is more interest which doesn't seem to be there yet. We'll see what happens over the next week or two. Frank -*- 83550 29-NOV 22:41 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83492) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX > Frank, the system I was talking about would be under $1000 COMPLETE > with case and all. Your Kix 20 is over $1200 and you still need a > monitor, keyboard, and etc etc. Yeah but your using a CGA monitor etc. Why would anyone invest a grand in what sounds like a dead end system? Sorry to be harsh but you can get USED 68K machines for what you are talking about. I have a TC70 that belongs to Toni Long that she is only asking $500 for. There are other used computers around that would fill the bill better in my mind. BTW I didn't mean to 'step on you' but you are now competing with me and other vendors when you offer to 'sell' a computer. Frank -*- 83551 29-NOV 22:41 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83500) From: FHOGG To: WA2EGP > Well, I did leave a message on the forum when I got it. Never got > any comments or replies. Sad to hear that. Wonder what we can make of that... if anything. -*- 83552 29-NOV 22:42 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83519) From: FHOGG To: RANDYKWILSON > Frank, could you tell us what software is already in a user CD-i box... I don't have the full details at this point. I do know of a company that has successfully connected a SCSI card to the CD-I player so I know the concept is sound. I was hoping some of the CD-I 'lurkers' would respond with those details. However let me make this statement. It ain't going to be a simple job. It WILL require effort and knowledge to get this done. The potential market 'may' be very large but the gamble is too high for any one sane company to tackle. That is why I suggested the dev board. It would provide the basic hardware for those who were interested in tackling this. NO guarantees from me on the outcome. The production board is NOT a product I plan on doing until and unless the software is done for it. Now then if I win the lottery things may be different. > I think it best not to get the CoCo community's hopes up to high. > WE don't need another Rocket letdown right now. I was really sorry that the coco community did not support the Rocket project when it mattered. Chris Burke evendently put a lot of work in it to no avail. There was not enough coco guys who placed an order to make the project go. Less than 40 last I heard. Now if several hundred had placed orders for it I think you would be looking at one now. If the coco community does not support efforts from vendors then there will be no vendors. I can say that because I am no longer a coco vendor. We dropped support for it last year due to lack of interest. If you want something for your coco you better buy it quick. This CD-I thing is for the low end OSK community which may, by accident, be of interest to the coco community. Frank -*- 83553 29-NOV 22:42 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83523) From: FHOGG To: LMCCLURE > Wouldn't you also need a keyboard port or at least an RS-232 port > to attach a terminal to? There is a keyboard port on the back of the CD-I player. It is apparently a serial port because you can also connect a modem to it. I don't have any more info on it than that. As far as what the 'production' board would have, a serial port would be easy. Remember that everything you add increases the list by about 4 times the cost of the part. Think of the coco disk controllers. Many were sold in all different configurations. So using that as a guide you can imagine the number of options you could have. They just cost money. Or as one of the contractors said when I asked if he could do a difficult job... "Sure, anything can be done if you sprinkle enough money on it." > If you are counting on the person already having a terminal (or > another computer), a floppy drive, and a CD-I machine, isn't that > restricting the market just a bit? Anything you do, from adding more features and increasing the cost to leaving off features to reduce the cost will restrict the market. The process is to start with something and when enough potential customers say, "If that thing was purple I would buy it." Then you make a purple version of the thing. You have to start somewhere. > After all, even at $100 for an interface, no cost for a terminal... You 'could' use a TV set to start with. > and you are a bit over $500. Picky picky > Still, I think the idea has merit. > Of course, so would a good, relatively inexpensive OSK port for > the Amiga 1200 (possibly with new ROMs for booting OSK). If that was a good idea then it would be a product today. The two ports of OSK to foreign platforms (Atari ST and Mac) have not met with the success necessary to make anyone invest the time and money to do a port for the Amiga. The REAL reason CD-I is so attractive is that OSK (or most of it) is in ROM on the player. That makes a huge difference when the cost of OSK is fully 1/3 of the cost of the under $1000 machines available today. Frank -*- 83556 29-NOV 23:16 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83551) From: WA2EGP To: FHOGG Nah! Nothing to make of that. Being a teacher, I'm used to not being listened to (grin). -*- 83557 29-NOV 23:24 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83513) From: WA2EGP To: JOHNBAER My Sears is waiting for the "full motion" module. They expect to get it in "a couple of weeks" and supposedly going for about $200. I didn't notice an ooops any movie titles but the person I talked to said that most movies will be one disk, longer movies will take 2 (or more....2001?). Might be interesting when this hits. -*- 83559 30-NOV 00:05 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83540) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON Oh yeah, i realize this idea is still that, an idea..I was speaking in terms of what the idea would really need, hardware wise to be usable..and 2 serial ports would be needed. As for what is actually in a CD-I machine, I am going to find out, a few calls to Optimage/Microware/Philips should do the trick..I am sure someone can tell me what is/is not in the CD-RTOS ROM in the CD-I machine.. Of course, the only REAL way on knowing, for sure 100% is to grab the code from the CD-I Rom itself...but a good solid ansewer from someone at 1 of the above companies satisfies me enough.. -* Mike PS, have you found any more info on that AudioPORT "thing" for use with the CoCoIO? -*- 83562 30-NOV 00:35 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83559) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Yeah, Mike, the potential for running OSK on a CD-i box is there. It wouldn't take all that much for one of the CD-i makers to build a machine with all the necessary stuff, for a price. But I really don't think we, the coco community, have the power to retrofit the current generation home machines. As Frank said, it's gonna take people with serious OSK knowledge to pull it off. The *few* among us with anything approaching the knowledge got it by working with OSK. They already have it, and most likely have more pressing projects. :> RE: Sound board and CoCoIO. Ummm, haven't had a chance to look into it. Life with cocoio kinda blew up. There for a while, due to chip supply problems, it looked like the cocoio would lose it's para port. I sit here with a mound of data sheets piled beside the desk (and Rick has an even bigger pile), saying the crisis is over; an alternate (two actually) has been worked out. But this time, I wanna see a 68 pin plcc chip in Rick's hand before openning mouth. :> Randy -*- 83578 30-NOV 05:50 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83552) From: BROWN80 To: FHOGG There may be a wider range of interest in a CD-I interface than you think. A CD-I makes a IBM style rom drive look a little shabby. Have you seen the cost of Developement systems for CD-I? With an interface and a tape driver you might be able to eventually back into a developement system. I would be in- terested in such an interface not as a cheap OSK machine, since I have one already, but as an extension of the possibilities of OSK John Brown -*- 83583 30-NOV 11:20 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83437) From: CBJ To: FHOGG Hey Frank, when are you going to market the CDI Multi-Pak? Sounds like we'll need one . Let's see, a CDI, Hard drive, Full motion video, Floptical, Tape back up unit, Floppies, Printer, Serial ports, etc., etc. This is gunna be fun! If you design it, we'll buy it!! -Carl -*- 83584 30-NOV 11:37 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83536) From: CBJ To: MITHELEN Paul, You are even on the high side for some of those components! If you shop around you can find Keyboards for $15, 80MEG Hard Drives for $80-90 (REFURBs) Cases and Power Supplies for $30-45, CGA COLOR monitors for $100-125, CGA cards for $15-20, Drive controllers for $20. Too bad we can't get it all for free. -Carl -*- 83591 30-NOV 19:32 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83520) From: DSRTFOX To: AJMLFCO IF you were putting the machine together piece by piece with no discounting what-so-ever, your math would be correct. I have a source for NEW, UNUSED, 8088 and 80286 machines that will guarantee the components even AFTER I remove the original motherboards. They want to dump.. er. .. "clear some warehouse space" to use some Tandy words... so I can get a better deal on the components. This machine will IN NO WAY be a "competitor" for the faster, more capable KiX and System IV/V machines from FHL and Delmar, respectively. The systems I'm proposing simply don't have the power of the more expensive systems. They will either have monochrome or CGA monitors, though I am working to get a mono VGA at just slightly over the CGA price. I will support these systems, and they are upgradeable by replacing the motherboard, but that is strictly a user option. The bottom line: If you are pretty sure yo u want to stay with OSK, buy one of the faster machines if you have the money. If you simply DON'T HAVE THE CASH, or ARE NOT SURE YOU WANT TO STAY WITH OS-9/68K, then you may want to purchase one of these stop-gap, budget systems instead. And these CAN be upgraded in a year or so at an acceptable price ($300 or less for a new 16 bit, faster motherboard), considering the initial cost. Now realize that the $300 upgrade is a MAXIMUM figure, and an educated emaximum ESTIMATE. They will most likely be cheaper to upgrade in a couple years. But then upgrading will require a new motherboard, which could just as well be a KiX! Oh yes, the systems will have a 720K drive instead of a 360K... required, actually, for the OSK operating system. -*- 83592 30-NOV 19:34 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83562) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON :) Yeah, that chip supply must be a real pain in the uh, I have been hunting for some good "hard core" specs on it, but no one I talked to yet has given me any...grrrr..I am still trying though.. ~ -* Mike -*- 83593 30-NOV 19:34 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83529) From: DSRTFOX To: JEJONES I've been taken to task on that one! I saw the Memorex in a catalog, then the VIS in the store, and thought they were one and the same. The Memorex wasn't in the catalog or showroom for long!! -*- 83595 30-NOV 19:41 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83549) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Well Frank, I HAVE been considering purchase of a CD-I machine. Your idea WOULD be another reason to do it! If you want to write up a short "notice" about the POSSIBILITY of doing it, I'll print it. You can always state that it may not be pursued unless en ough interest is generated... I'll make it prominent by printing in bold or italics! You also need to consider contacting Phillips about it (if you haven't already!), as they may be interested in marketing such a device, or may already have one in the wor ks. -*- 83597 30-NOV 19:50 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83551) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Well, you are correct in stating that there are SOME used systems available. The system I'm considering IS upgradeable... with a motherboard cahnge.hange... but at a reasonable price. And the upgrade could just as well be a KiX board as anything else. I do n't think this would be competing with your low end systems. I have made it clear in other messages that if you have the finances then you should consider a KiX or System IV/V. But there are some who would like something cheaper to play with NOW, so they w ill know for sure if they want to upgrade to a faster, more expensive system. There won't be any faster systems from me as complete units, at least I'm not expecting to do that AT ALL. I'd have to sell a LOT of these to even consider such a thing, and don' t expect to sell over a dozen. This isn't a big money maker for me either.. it is mainly a magazine article series showing how to setup and put together an OSK system. Many of the techniques will apply to the KiX as well. I have decided two things, though... the monitors will be monochrome in order to cheaply increase resolution. I may be able to get VGA mono (B&W) monitors for only a small price penalty, and will go that way if possible. A 720K drive will be the smallest a lso, necessitated by OSK! Even with these additions, the cost of a fully assembled, ready to go system won't exd $1000, S&H included. And a component kit will be less. I mentioned $1000 because I can deliver at that price REGARDLESS of waht comes up... I could almost buy items piec e by piece and still achieve that figure. -*- 83598 30-NOV 19:55 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83552) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Frank, I'm going to take Chris Burke to task here, and I'll give him a public appoloy later if it is warranted. I attempted to get more infor on the Rocket from him for about two months. Over a thirty day period, I called three times at different times of the day and on different days, wrote at least once, and left E-mail here and at his Internet address. I didn't receive even one reply. Even so, I ordered a Rocket anyway. I was interested in possibly purchasing 4-5 for an agent in Australia. The point is, how many people tried to get in touch with B&B and couldn't, so didn't order anything? I didn't expect a return phone call, but left my address AND requested he call me collect. No reply over two months though??? -*- 83599 30-NOV 19:57 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83591) From: ILLUSIONIST To: FHOGG yes frank, if you marketed a board like that for CD-i, i would most defiantly buy it..I have been fiddeling with the idea of buying a CD-i player for awhile but always decided to wait and see how CD-i takes off, more and more discs are coming out, and with the full motion video, CD-i alone looks good..if you marketed the board, I would be the first one to run down to sears and pick up a cd-i machine, and to give you a call..ok, maybe not the first, it would take me 2 weeks to get all the $$ together... -* Mike -*- 83600 30-NOV 20:00 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83553) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Frank, the port of OS-9 to ANYTHING isn't making a lot of inroads. If you didn't have to pay the high royalties to microware, your systems could be cheaper. I was told that microware wanted to start having UltraC, a near $1200 product, bundled with all sys tems now. I know they aren't forcing you guys to do that now, but will they? In other words, I don't think microware is interested in a mass market product, they have a profitable niche as is. The ports to other platforms are high, considering they already have a good multi-tasking (if not user) OS with them. OS-9 doesn't hold anything over System 7, and not much over the ST DOS either! -*- 83606 30-NOV 21:25 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83592) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Well, there's chip supply problems, then there's chip SUPPLY problems. The first chip chosen, the most capable of all options considered, turned out to be very difficult to get from any supplier. After much waiting, and then many many phone calls, we found the cause of the supply delays. It never went into production!! The options being studied now use a much slower chip. But before everyone gets in an uproar, this is not a bad thing at all. Rather than being eight times faster than the coco can possibly handle, it will only be four times faster. :> Later... ` Randy -*- 83616 1-DEC 00:04 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83557) From: JOHNBAER To: WA2EGP > My Sears is waiting for the "full motion" module. They expect to get it > in "a couple of weeks" and supposedly going for about $200. I didn't > notice an ooops any movie titles but the person I talked to said that most > movies will be one disk, longer movies will take 2 (or more....2001?). > Might be interesting when this hits. > Ya, I tryed to get Sears to take a pre-order,,, no go. So I ordered it from a company in Ohio. I should have it in 3 weeks. They sold out the first batch they got in already . As for the `multi disk' movies.. It would be nice if they did the `break' in the movie and showed about one minute of the first disk on the second disk so you wouldn't get the feeling that you mised something. I guess the next generation machine will be a multi disk player for those movies . Will wait and see. - John Baer johnbaer@delphi.com jbaer@pacs.pha.pa.us *** InfoXpress 1.01.00 *** -*- 83618 1-DEC 00:27 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83600) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX Does anybody, including Microware, know if Microware 'has' a marketing stratagy? Frank -*- 83621 1-DEC 00:28 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83578) From: FHOGG To: BROWN80 Hi John, Good idea. All it would take would be a SCSI select on the 'board' so it could be used both ways. Oh and just a bit of software. Frank -*- 83622 1-DEC 00:28 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83583) From: FHOGG To: CBJ Carl, That's the kind of stuff I like to hear. Frank -*- 83623 1-DEC 00:29 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83595) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX > You also need to consider contacting Phillips about it (if you haven't > already!), as they may be interested in marketing such a device, or may > already have one in the works. Frank, How long can you hold your breath. Sorry to say but they are totally not interested in this... last I heard. -*- 83624 1-DEC 00:29 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83598) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX Yes I did read your comments but I 'think' that by that point in time he probably read the writing on the wall and may have already decided to ditch it. It is a fact that the coco community is now very small and apparently not interested in supporting those vendors that are left. I guess another way of saying this is you should stop beating the dead horse. However I don't want to get into a discussion about the coco. I had a great 10 years or so with it and made and lost a hunk of money. That's the past. The future is OSK, GWindows lots of RAM, huge hard drives, CD-I etc etc. Frank -*- 83625 1-DEC 00:29 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83599) From: FHOGG To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, That's the kind of comments that we need to hear if this product is going anywhere. Frank -*- 83626 1-DEC 00:37 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83616) From: WA2EGP To: JOHNBAER Heck....did you ever hear of "intermission"? (Fancy word for potty break) -*- 83627 1-DEC 00:38 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83598) From: ISC To: DSRTFOX Frank, I, too, have been trying to contact Chris Burke for over 2 months and have no reply. I wanted to buy something from him, but he did not even respond to my credit card number! Bill -*- 83629 1-DEC 02:12 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83553) From: LMCCLURE To: FHOGG "You 'could' use a TV set to start with." Ick! For an OSK machine!?! "If that was a good idea then it would be a product today." (Referring to an OSK port to the Amiga). If one were to use that logic, there would have been no use in you asking about the possibility of a board to use a CD-I machine as an OSK computer, as it would have been a product already if the idea was good. Not all good ideas become products, and as Tandy's VIS proves, not all products are good ideas. The failure of the OSK ports to the ST and Mac does not in itself indicate the concept is bad. It could just as easily indicate poor product and marketing on the part of the company developing and selling the product. With the A1200 selling for under $400 mailorder, having a floppy drive, parallel and serial ports, built-in hard drive (IDE) support, a 14.32Mhz 68020, and 2 megs memory expandable to 10, and readily available accelerators, and standard graphics supporting not only NTSC graphics, but also 640x480 output at VGA scan rates with 256 colors out of a 24-bit pallete, I suggest it makes for a better 'personal' OSK machine, provided a *decent* OSK port could be made available for $200-$300. Given the price the MM/1 and TC-70 sold for with OSK included, unless the hardware was a mere fraction of the selling price, this does not seem unreasonable. However, I do agree almost any port of OSK to a non-OSK 'native' machine will likely fail. Why? Because those purchasing the machine will likely be lured into using software for the machine's native OS, which, at least for personal use, is more readily available even for the Atari ST than for OSK, and of course, would be more likely to take advantage of any special hardware. Correct me if I am wrong, but one problem with ports of OSK to other machines is one a CD-I machine converted to an OSK computer would face: The "personal" market for OSK is limited. -*- 83636 1-DEC 05:22 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83598) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: DSRTFOX Was the same way with me after I ordered powerbooster. I had some ? about the 6309 development stuff I wanted to buy it. same problem, no returned calls, email etc.. I never bought the kit. -*- 83639 1-DEC 05:52 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83618) From: EDELMAR To: FHOGG I surprised you, of all people, would ask such a question. Microware very definitely has a marketing strategy. It does not include the personal user. It is directed towards the real-time, multi-user market; preferably for imbedded applications. I'm not defending them nor do I necessarily agree with them or like it. Just telling it like it is. Ed -*- 83650 1-DEC 20:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83624) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG As far as someone making a lot of money or staking a business on the CoCo, I have to agree with you. My bit is hobby only, and I make money becasue I am supporting OSK AND the CoCo. At this point, many of my readers are interested a lot in OS-9 and OSK, bu t at least half only use a CoCo. They are interested in keeping abreast of OSK so that when it looks like there is a reason for them to get a new machine, they will know and be able to make a knowledgeable decission as to what machine they should buy. Vend orsare still making "pocket change" on the CoCo, but I believe that is all... enough to cover expenses for their hobby, but no real money. That's enough for some of us, for now anyway. -*- 83651 1-DEC 20:50 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83650) From: DSRTFOX To: EDELMAR I think the question FH asked me about microware's strategy was partly in jest... at least I took it that way. You're right, of course, they don't care much about a personal user. It takes high volume to make money in a personal market, the industrial mark et pays better for less work! -*- 83654 1-DEC 22:18 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83629) From: FHOGG To: LMCCLURE > If one were to use that logic, there would have been no use in you > asking about the possibility of a board to use a CD-I machine as an > OSK computer, as it would have been a product already if the idea was > good. Not true. The reason using CD-I now 'may' be a good idea is that the price has dropped from $800 to $400. THAT makes it different. > better 'personal' OSK machine, provided a *decent* OSK port could > be made available for $200-$300. The main reason that it would cost more is not the cost of the licensee but the cost of doing a port to hardware that was not meant to run it. In the case of the KiX the hardware was designed with OSK in mind. The software people had all the information needed to do the port and the cost could be better justified as part of the hardware. Also in the case of the KiX most of the drivers are derived from previous ports. As a matter of fact Hazelwood makes it a point to use the same parts from one platform to the next to reduce the cost of making a port to each new machine. You can buy various ROMless Mac logic boards from $200 up. I think 020 boards go for $300. However the cost of doing the port would be high. I know that doing the port for the Mac was very difficult. The only way they can recover that cost is to sell the OS. Also when ever a new Mac comes they are forced to support it. > The "personal" market for OSK is limited. The market for OSK now is much like the market for 6809 was back before the CoCo. The questions to ponder and ask yourself are these. Could the CD-I player become the next coco? Will the introduction of a board to turn it into a computer sell? How many of the assumed 100,000 will buy it? If even a small percentage buy it how will that effect the current OSK market? Is this a great opportunity or just a pipe dream? ponder ponder on Frank -*- 83655 1-DEC 22:18 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83639) From: FHOGG To: EDELMAR I was joking. -*- 83659 1-DEC 23:12 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83606) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON :), does this "new" chip support both serial/parr. ports too? like the '553? or just 2 serial, or 1 serial, 1 par. ??? -*- 83661 1-DEC 23:36 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83659) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, still two serial andone parallel. The serials will still capable of 115200 (not sure if the coco can take that). Well, really, the chip is capable of 512K bps, but that's definately out of coco range. :> Randy -*- 83664 2-DEC 00:11 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83626) From: JOHNBAER To: WA2EGP > Heck....did you ever hear of "intermission"? (Fancy word for potty > break) ha ha... Yea, thats what I like about watching recorded stuff.. pause, liquid in,,, liquid out.. and no bubble gum on me seat when I get back. - John Baer johnbaer@delphi.com jbaer@pacs.pha.pa.us *** InfoXpress 1.01.00 *** -*- 83668 2-DEC 00:25 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83591) From: AJMLFCO To: DSRTFOX My prices we just a quick pass through Computer Shopper. If you can meet or beat Computer Shopper mail-order pricing, more power to ya! No one should be "whining" about cost if you can do that! Sounds neat. I doubt that a system like you describe takes a sale away from others because as you say, you're at a different level. Allen -*- 83670 2-DEC 04:40 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83606) From: LMCCLURE To: RANDYKWILSON "After much waiting, and then many many phone calls, we found the cause of the supply delays. It never went into production!!" So the 16553 turned out to be vaporware? What chip are you planning on using now? -*- 83675 2-DEC 19:31 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83651) From: PHILSCHERER To: DSRTFOX I think they could have a piece of the personal market without giving an inch in the industrial sector. I have come to believe that there are a good number of folks at Microware that agree but Mr. Kaplan wont budge! -*- 83682 2-DEC 22:01 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83670) From: RANDYKWILSON To: LMCCLURE Uh, I should have said it hasn't gone into mass production yet, and they are no longer forecasting a release date. But call it what you want. As I said to Mike, I really want to have plastic in hand before committing too far. We're looking at various renditions of the 16552. None of them are totally compatable with the 553 (*lots*lower max ratings, for one), but will with minor board and software changes. Do note that while these chips are slower than the 553, their still a lot more than the coco needs. Randy -*- 83686 2-DEC 23:13 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83410) From: THETAURUS To: EDELMAR >>Please - it's Ed, not Frank :-) Aaahhh, same thing. ;-) >> For the forseeable future, the System IV will remain in our product line. It is selling quite well. That's good to hear. No matter what, the more systems available, the more that will be sold, which will bring more development. That's my guess anyway :-) See Ya >Chris< -*- 83688 2-DEC 23:14 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83461) From: THETAURUS To: FHOGG >> The TC70 was discontinued because nobody wanted to buy it. In that case it wasn't such a bad idea, but I think to be a little more fair, the KIX-20 price should also include the MGA Card with Gwindows. Still not a bad price, but I think it is a more realistic comparison since, without the MGA, users cannot hookup a keyboard and are restricted to using it as a terminal based system. I don't think it should be considered a COMPLETE system untill you at least have keyboard and mouse capability, if not also a keyboard and mouse with it, since basically any system sold nowadays includes that support. Maybe another idea would be to include keyboard support through another graphics card similar to MGA, but not as robust, which would come with the computer, and then allow them to purchase MGA later. I think the $1970 you list at the end of your message seems like more of a fair comparison. >>Now that we've finished the house, I'll have more time to play... Sounds Great! I'm looking forward to seeing you in forum and maybe conference more often. I think it also helps boost the confidence of potential customers when they see you around more. 'Course it isn't easy Both running a buisiness like you are, and ALSO having time to hang around online. I don't even run a buisiness and still barely have time to reply to messages! >Chris< -*- 83690 2-DEC 23:14 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83490) From: THETAURUS To: DSRTFOX Sounds good Frank. I don't know anyone willing to write a review myself but I know there are at least two Kix-30 owners here tho I forget who they are. Oh yeah AJMLFCO is one of them. >Chris< -*- 83692 2-DEC 23:50 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83688) From: FHOGG To: THETAURUS (NR) Chris, Re KiX\20 pricing without the MGA added. More than 90% of sales to date of the KiX\20 are without the MGA card. Most OSK users are terminal users. We are always considering making changes and additions to the KiX line depending on demand from users and potential users. A low cost video card has come up several times. Two things to remember in the KiX systems are: 1... All KiX video cards (MGA) are 32 bit and have to have mouse and keyboard support which adds to the cost. 2... Most of our customers tend to opt for the faster (more expensive) options. With that in mind a lower cost video card would only be $100 or so lower. Unless we could offer some other reason to buy it I think most would opt to spend the extra cash in trade for the speed of the MGA. We are looking at this and trying to find a way to offer more features AND keep the speed AND lower the cost. Maybe by the end of 94. In the meantime the MGA is still the fastest 68K GWindows video system available and that ain't bad. We are now working on our new flyer and a major part of it will be system pricing that will hopefully make it easier to put together the package you want. Frank -*- 83693 2-DEC 23:52 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83490) From: FHOGG To: DSRTFOX Frank, Actually there are at least 6 KiX\30 users on here. For reasons of their own they have not offered to do your review. I 'could' loan you a 33Mhz one to do the review but I would hate to be the one to spoil you for other, slower, computers. (Whiz, bang, splat.... I duck under the table as the sound of something soft and mushy hits the fan blades and bounces all over the room. A pungent order fills the air and I suddenly have the intense desire to open the window for fresh air.) Frank PS. Re: "other, slower, computers" I'm joking. ;) -*- 83694 3-DEC 00:28 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83664) From: WA2EGP To: JOHNBAER Of course, you can always hit pause without those darn annoying lines like on a VCR. BTW, I took my machine into school and showed it to the people in the art department (with a disk on Impressionist painters). Thye are now trying to check all the RS stores to see if there is another one "lying around". I guess they were impressed. One music teacher also checked it out. He was also impressed that it can be hooked up to a stereo amp and that it was made by Philips. At the price I paid, he said it was a steal (which it was). I just hope I can get it back! (Grin) -*- 83695 3-DEC 00:41 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83553) From: BUDDCAR To: FHOGG Evening Frank. Well at least it is evening at the moment. Not that it helps but the reason I have not shown much interest in the CDI discussion is that Tandy (Intertan) never carried the machines up here. If I could get my hands on one it would be an interesting toy and a possible mate for my TC70. (yes it is still working so I don't quite yet have an excuse to go KIX). Funny discussion - personal opinion is that terminal systems don't have a lot of appeal to a cocoist who has had graphics to play with. More a toy for the software phreak. Bob P. -*- 83706 3-DEC 13:34 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83694) From: MITHELEN To: WA2EGP Hey... I can hit pause on my VCR, and I get PERFECT sztill frame... Looks like you need to update your VCR 8-) I only paid 230$ for the VCR (ok.. 9it was used), but I got it mainly cause the still frame was so good. (It also has a jog/shuttle control) It would be great for digitizing, If only I had a digitizer on my MM/1 8-( -*- 83712 3-DEC 20:57 General Information 1655x (Re: Msg 83682) From: LMCCLURE To: RANDYKWILSON What are the primary differences between the 16553 and 16552? Are the UARTs on the 16552 fully 16550-compatible, or are they more like the 16450? Enquiring minds want to know! (and so do I )! -*- 83714 3-DEC 20:59 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83654) From: LMCCLURE To: FHOGG You made a good point about the cost of actually writing the port of OSK to a different machine once the license is obtained; I had not factored that into my thoughts when I made the original post. I cannot say I have really kept up with the costs of CD-I players. What large chains still carry them? Software Etc. was the only place I knew of locally that carried it, and they pulled in recently in favor of 3DO (which they do not even have on display, BTW). -*- 83720 3-DEC 21:22 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83675) From: DSRTFOX To: PHILSCHERER Well, I'm working on reducing the cost of OSK with another vendor. That is a BIG chunk of the problem! Of course, the c compiler will be dropped, but we have another idea on that. Eventually, a new linker and assembler will be written for the GNU compiler, or another non-linking compiler has been mentioned. I don7t know enough about C to know the difference between a linking and non-linking compiler, nor the advantages/disadvantages. An explanation would help the decision! -*- 83721 3-DEC 21:23 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83682) From: DSRTFOX To: LMCCLURE (NR) I guess that chip was like the 6809 MMU.. some examples released, then not enough interest to warrant full scale production! -*- 83722 3-DEC 21:28 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83693) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG If I were somewhat more experienced with OS-9 on the CoCo, I might would take you up on that! But, I wouldn't really even know how to test the thing after I got it. And you're right... the KiX 30 makes the system I am considering look like a VW bug at a stop light beside a Porsche 928.... -*- 83723 3-DEC 21:31 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83722) From: DSRTFOX To: LMCCLURE (NR) Sears carries the Phillips Imagination Machine. So does Macy's. I don't know of anyone else, but you should be able to locate a Sears catalog! -*- 83724 3-DEC 21:35 General Information RE: 1655x (Re: Msg 83712) From: RANDYKWILSON To: LMCCLURE (NR) All the 16552 (or at least the four versions we currently know about) are totally 550 compatable. They are all rated for up to 8mhz which nets a max speed of 512K bps. They do not have the extended features of the 553, such as a max rating of 24mhz (2M bps). From here on out all four chips differ some. One (the first we looked at and dismissed) does not have the para port. Another is currently "out of stock". The two remaining (#'s 3 and 4 on our discover list) are not totally pin compatable. This means minor differences in board design. So, we want a rock solid supply lined up (plastic in hand), as I'm sure you can understand. To date, the only design goal, and spec as pertaining to the CoCo, to change is the release date. I mean..... come on. What good would this thing be without the FIFOs? :> Randy -*- 83729 3-DEC 21:48 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83693) From: DSRTFOX To: FHOGG Frank, the only way to make the KiX 20 an ideal low cost system would be to use some type of existing VGA chipset (there must be a VESA chipset that is 32 bit... or could you squeeze the 32 bits into a 16 bit set at an acceptable speed????) and keyboard controller.... possibly built directly onto the motherboard instead of a card. If a card could be kept n close to $250 (less than half theMGA price), it SHOULD find some support as long as it is as fast as IBM VGA. The MGA at least sounds fantastic, but you pay for that performance! -*- 83730 3-DEC 21:51 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83695) From: KSCALES To: BUDDCAR (NR) Hi, Bob - >Not that it > helps but the reason I have not shown much interest in the CDI discussion > is that Tandy (Intertan) never carried the machines up here. If I could > get my hands on one it would be an interesting toy and a possible mate > for my TC70. For the last few weeks, MultiTech have been featuring a Philips CD-I machine for $698, including the "special introductory offer" Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. This is the first time I have seen any CD-I machine available in the Ottawa area. If there is a MultiTech in your area, you may want to check it out. ... / Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83733 4-DEC 00:37 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83706) From: WA2EGP To: MITHELEN (NR) Your lucky if you can get "perfect" freeze frame on your VCR. Of course, the CDI machine gives perfect freeze with greater number of scan lines (if not the full amount) than most, if not all VCRs. The VCRs around here are bought by cheap price, not quality. If I want to see a good tape, I use the 8mm. -*- 83734 4-DEC 00:43 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83720) From: JEJONES To: DSRTFOX (NR) > I don't know enough about C to know the difference between a > linking and non-linking compiler, nor the advantages/disadvantages. "Linking" is the process of "resolving" references to objects used but not defined in a piece or pieces of code so that you wind up with something that can actually be run. This can happen long before the code is run (the usual case with programming languages that have a batch-oriented origin), done by a separate "linker" program, or it can happen as the code is run (with unresolved references being noticed somehow and filled in on the fly, sort of like BASIC09 or RunB looking in the module directory for invoked procedures, though not necessarily that way--to see how it can be done, look at old papers on the "Multics" operating system). Another approach to compiling is to just not allow unresolved references, so that the compiler presumes that all references are either to language built-in routines or things defined in the source code. This is done in some interactive systems and in some "student" or "debugging" oriented batch systems, like the old WATFOR and WATFIV FORTRAN compilers. Non-linking compilers have compilation speed on their side, since they don't have to go traipsing through libraries or have a separate linker pass--they just write the executable out directly, some even bypassing an assembly language stage. OTOH, it's hard to reuse code with them... though on the third hand, a really fast "non-linking" compiler could allow for sharing at the source level, and if it's fast enough, perhaps nobody would notice the difference. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83735 4-DEC 00:43 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83714) From: JEJONES To: LMCCLURE (NR) > I cannot say I have really kept up with the costs of CD-I players. > What large chains still carry them? The ones I know of are Sears, Service Merchandise, and Rex. (There may be others; those are just the ones I know of.) I got a J&R Computer World catalog in the mail the other day. It had a couple of pages that it said were of various items in their J&R Music World catalog, and right there was CD-I. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83743 4-DEC 06:47 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83729) From: EDELMAR To: DSRTFOX (NR) Frank, > ... (there must be a VESA chipset that is 32 bit... or could you squeeze > the 32 bits into a 16 bit set at an acceptable speed????) Most all the new vga chipsets support 32, 16 and 8 bit buses. The VESA specification is for a 32 bit bus. While the chipsets support all the buses, the cards do not. Most card mfgs are providing cards for VESA and 16-bit ISA buses (these are separate cards). A few are supporting the EISA bus. In one sense, the VESA specification came too late. Most of the new chip sets include a graphics accelerator. The instructions for these functions are byte oriented. The registers which control performing the various gfx functions are a single byte in size. Depending on the function you wish to do, you merely set the appropriate registers and the gfx chip does the rest. This has an added advantage in that the main processor is free to do other, unrelated work. The improvement in gfx speed is quite substantial. I'm seeing performance improvements of 3 to 5 times over our existing 'dumb' card. > If a card could be kept n close to $250 (less than half theMGA price), .. The good news is that these cards are available in the price range you want. As the competitive pressure builds up, you can expect the prices to drop. At least one mfg is looking at modifying his card to work in 8-bit ISA slots, too. This would allow its use in the SYSTEM IV. Above a certain threshold and depending on the application, gfx speed isn't necessarily the final criterea. The SYSTEM V is competing with several other systems from other mfgs to be the hardware platform for a Company in the industrial market. Their product is based on G-WINDOWS and ControlCalc. They are more than satisifed with the gfx performance we are offering. But, it requires that the processor do the work slowing down other activities. The competing hardware (and the one being used on an interim basis) use the newer chipsets. At least one is using the TIGA gfx graphics co-processor (but it is very expensive). All of these relieve the microproccessor of much of the gfx processing. I was informed all have G-WINDOWS performance of at least 2 to 3 times what we're getting with the dumb gfx card - also told me I didn't want to know how much faster the system with the TIGA gfx graphics co-processor is . BTW, they have not selected the TIGA system as their interim system. I was assured that the SYSTEM V stands a good chance of becoming their standard hardware platform when I finish the G-WINDOWS port to the new vga card. Their decision is based on performance based on their testing, quality and price. > The MGA at least sounds fantastic, but you pay for that performance! According to the information provided by this customer, the KIX30/MGA is _not_ the fastest machine running G-WINDOWS on OSK platforms. Ed Gresick - DELMAR CO -*- End of Thread. -*- 83319 23-NOV 20:27 OSK Applications C Low Level Acess From: VAXELF To: ALL I have again run into a mystery about C... When using Low Level Access to the screen, I have notice the following happen. If anyone can explain why it works this way and know a work around or fix, please let me know?? write(Screen, buffer, n ); /* n = number of bytes in buffer */ this works just fine........ for (i=0; i < n; i++ ) write(Screen, buffer[i], 1 ); this DOES NOT work. Garbage is printed to the screen. John Donaldson -*- 83325 23-NOV 21:52 OSK Applications RE: C Low Level Acess (Re: Msg 83319) From: JEJONES To: VAXELF > write(Screen, buffer, n ); /* n = number of bytes in buffer */ > > this works just fine........ > > for (i=0; i < n; i++ ) > write(Screen, buffer[i], 1 ); > > this DOES NOT work. Garbage is printed to the screen. write() wants a *pointer* as its second parameter. Since the first call works fine, buffer must be either an array, which in this context is turned into a pointer to its first element, or a pointer, which is fine as it is. Therefore, buffer[i] is a value of whatever type buffer points at. For example, if buffer has type pointer to character or is an array of characters, buffer[i] could be, say, the character 'A', which in ASCII has some value , yeah, that's the ticket, 0x41, i.e. 65. What write() did was write out whatever stuff was at that (low) address in memory. So that's why that happens. If you really wanted to go for maximal function call and system call overhead :-), then do write(Screen, &buffer[i], 1); which gives write the pointer it wants. *** posted w/InfoXpress 1.1 *** -*- 83351 24-NOV 20:59 OSK Applications RE: C Low Level Acess (Re: Msg 83325) From: VAXELF To: JEJONES Thanks , that makes a lot of sense. Never considered it that way. I'll give a try and see how it goes. John Donaldson -*- 83413 27-NOV 05:48 OSK Applications RE: C Low Level Acess (Re: Msg 83319) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: VAXELF John, As James Jones pointed out, you need a pointer there. To get the max speed, why not write the whole shebang at the same time. > for (i=0; i < n; i++ ) > write(Screen, buffer[i], 1 ); Change this to 'write(Screen, &buffer, n)' /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83432 27-NOV 19:41 OSK Applications RE: C Low Level Acess (Re: Msg 83413) From: VAXELF To: MARKGRIFFITH That's what I'm doing. I now have it working 90% of the time. I still get some messups, so still got some work to do. Thanks for the response. John D. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83321 23-NOV 20:58 General Information RE: Speech Pak (Re: Msg 83165) From: HAWKSOFT To: COCOKIWI TIS!!!! tis a crystal! changed it 5 years ago so I counld tell which computer was speaking!!!! (GB GRIN :->) :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> Chris <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: -*- 83332 24-NOV 00:43 General Information RE: Speech Pak (Re: Msg 83321) From: COCOKIWI To: HAWKSOFT AH!HA!dennis -*- End of Thread. -*- 83348 24-NOV 19:14 General Information Hard Drive From: PHILSCHERER To: ALL I have in my hand a Seagate st-225 hard drive. It says cyl-530, hd-0, sec-1, bytes-124, bytes/in-486. Could someone tell me what kind of drive this is and how big it is?? -*- 83349 24-NOV 19:44 General Information RE: Hard Drive (Re: Msg 83348) From: RANDYKWILSON To: PHILSCHERER What you read off the drive soounds like the error table. If so, it's not bad at all. I've seen drives with a second sheet added on to list them all. :> A ST-225 is a Seagate 20meg MFM drive. Quite common. Here's the dmode of mine. Note that I run 34 sectors per track. drv=00 stp=06 typ=80 dns=02 cyl=0267 sid=04 vfy=00 sct=0022 tos=0022 ilv=16 sas=20 Randy -*- 83364 25-NOV 08:49 General Information RE: Hard Drive (Re: Msg 83349) From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Hi Randy--Thanks for the info on the drive! -*- 83367 25-NOV 10:37 General Information RE: Hard Drive (Re: Msg 83348) From: MRGOOD To: PHILSCHERER The ST-225 is a 20 megger. 614 cylinders Hugo -*- 83370 25-NOV 15:11 General Information RE: Hard Drive (Re: Msg 83367) From: PHILSCHERER To: MRGOOD Hi Hugo--Thanks for the info! -*- End of Thread. -*- 83354 24-NOV 23:31 OSK Applications Pyramid Solitaire Demo From: COLORSYSTEMS To: ALL Now in the library is a demo version of my program Pyramid Solitaire for the MM/1. This program runs and draws the main board, and will even play a game with itself, but the main game playing logic is disabled. If you like Pyramid Solitaire and would like more information on it and the other four Variations of Solitaire which comes with it, send email to COLORSYSTEMS. ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- 83407 27-NOV 04:21 OSK Applications RE: Pyramid Solitaire Demo (Re: Msg 83354) From: JOELHEGBERG To: COLORSYSTEMS Zack, > Now in the library is a demo version of my program Pyramid Solitaire for > the MM/1. I really like your demo. I have a question, though. On my system, while the demo was auto-playing, I switched screens and the pointer came on the new screen and trashed the window... so I switched to another, and same thing. :) Obviously, a K-Win bug. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem, and perhaps you might want to find out which operation is causing this and post it here so the "new K-Win program, whom shall remain nameless" might be able to squash the bug. :) -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83423 27-NOV 12:49 OSK Applications RE: Pyramid Solitaire Demo (Re: Msg 83407) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: JOELHEGBERG > I really like your demo. I have a question, though. On my system, > while the demo was auto-playing, I switched screens and the pointer came > on the new screen and trashed the window... so I switched to another, > and same thing. :) Obviously, a K-Win bug. I was wondering if anyone > else had this problem, and perhaps you might want to find out which > operation is causing this and post it here so the "new K-Win program, > whom shall remain nameless" might be able to squash the bug. :) I quickly noticed this problem, as during testing of the autoplay mode, I wanted to let it play for awhile to "burn it in". So I was going to switch to another window and do some text editting, and that's when I saw it. Mouse cursors all over the place!! I had the occasion to speak with Kevin Pease that same day on an unrelated issue and brought up the problem. Kevin told me it sounded like a KWindows bug which has been around since day one. (Even #51 does not fix the problem) I have sent a copy of the program to the person Kevin told me to send it to along with an explanation of the problem. I have yet to hear back on any solution or whatever. Will keep the Forum posted. ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- End of Thread. -*- 83355 24-NOV 23:41 General Information 83259 msg From: 2RSMITH To: EDDIEKUNS (NR) Since you are famous on here would U please read subject message on forum? Just abt joining U alluns on OS9--not sz and rz--got a good annser on that....ok? Ray -*- 83371 25-NOV 15:24 OSK Applications OSK From: CLTUCKER To: FHOGG The $100 OSK sounds great. Count me in.:-) -*- 83392 26-NOV 21:01 OSK Applications RE: OSK (Re: Msg 83371) From: FHOGG To: CLTUCKER Please see message #83390 -*- End of Thread. -*- 83374 25-NOV 18:23 Telecom (6809) RE: STG and Internet (Re: Msg 83113) From: THETAURUS To: MITHELEN Ok, thanks. I put both STG-Net and Internet fields in the file. >Chris< -*- 83375 25-NOV 18:23 General Information RE: State Abbreviations (Re: Msg 83127) From: THETAURUS To: JWILKERSON >> You got Data Windows to _work_? Ahh, nope. Not yet :-( I'm still working on it. I am having the same problem as you sort of. I the upper left corner of my display screen, when I reload the database, I am getting garbage<_T or something like that>, replacing the name of my field. I can't enter any data and am getting an error I think I will get back to work on it this weekend tho, and if I can't get it to work, I'll just switch to Profile. >Chris< -*- 83381 25-NOV 23:55 General Information RE: State Abbreviations (Re: Msg 83375) From: JWILKERSON To: THETAURUS I use profile. It doesn'T look as good, but by god it works! Too bad Data Windows is such a dog. It could have been THE CoCo database...... If you ever find a cure, let me know. Seeya -- John -*- 83485 28-NOV 20:24 General Information RE: State Abbreviations (Re: Msg 83381) From: THETAURUS To: DATA WINDOWS (NR) >>I use profile. It doesn't look as good, but by god it works! Amen! :-) I agree. I have just switched to Profile, since I can't figure out what the case is with Data-Windows. It's not as flashy, and it's not the fastest beast in the world, but it is amazingly solid. Data Windows will be nice once the extra 'features' are patched up a bit, if they ever are. I highly doubt we'll ever see new work done on it unless someone else decides to start support for it. While profile is quite slow, I agree it is very functional, and will stick with that for now, while trying in the future to figure out Data Windows. >Chris< -*- 83525 29-NOV 05:00 General Information RE: State Abbreviations (Re: Msg 83485) From: JWILKERSON To: THETAURUS I think there _was_ a fix for it, but it is beyond me where it may be. It would be nice, though, if someone could dissassemble it and see if there is a way to make patches for it. Seeya -- John -*- End of Thread. -*- 83376 25-NOV 19:30 OSK Applications $100 OSK From: VAXELF To: FHOGG Frank, Can you send me some info on the $100 OSK. Is it Ver 3.0??? John D. -*- 83393 26-NOV 21:01 OSK Applications RE: $100 OSK (Re: Msg 83376) From: FHOGG To: VAXELF Please see message #83390 -*- 83448 28-NOV 09:04 OSK Applications RE: $100 OSK (Re: Msg 83393) From: VAXELF To: FHOGG Frank, What msg #83390 ????. It does not show up when I do a dir. What area is it in. right now I only have my access set to OSK APP OSK TEL OSK SYS John D. -*- 83457 28-NOV 13:18 OSK Applications RE: $100 OSK (Re: Msg 83448) From: FHOGG To: VAXELF I meant message #83390 here in the forum. Just type 83390 at the forum prompt. 83390 26-NOV 21:00 General Information RE: Under $1000 OSK System? (Re: Msg 83377) From: FHOGG To: MIKE_GUZZI > Get into OSK for under $100 ??? what kind of idea? a bridge board for > a CoCo (like the rocket was supposed to be) or a small computer? .. Sorry for the confusion. Frank -*- 83505 28-NOV 22:31 OSK Applications RE: $100 OSK (Re: Msg 83457) From: VAXELF To: FHOGG Frank, I did type 83390 and no response. I even did a dir 83300 and it did not show up. thanks for the reprint. John D. -*- 83554 29-NOV 22:43 OSK Applications RE: $100 OSK (Re: Msg 83505) From: FHOGG To: VAXELF > I did type 83390 and no response. I even did a dir 83300 and it > did not show up. thanks for the reprint. John, Well I typed 83390 and that is how I got the first few lines of the thing. Whatever the reason I emailed you the message. Frank -*- End of Thread. -*- 83379 25-NOV 22:15 General Information Happy Thanksgiving From: REVWCP To: ALL Dear friends: On this day, as we all pause to give thanks, I would like to share my thanks for all of you who have been such an important part of my life this past year. Your friendships are very special. The willingness to offer help with programming or hardware problems, the words of kindness for me and my family following the death of my father this past July, the joy of seeing many of you at the Fests, the countless hours that many of you have shared with others in the OS9 community, for all of these and those things and people who I might not always remember in my mind, but do in my heart, I give thanks. May God bless each of you and those who are near and dear to you. With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW -*- 83483 28-NOV 20:24 General Information RE: Happy Thanksgiving (Re: Msg 83379) From: THETAURUS To: REVWCP Thanks for the best wishes Brother Jeremy, and I too hope you had a great holiday. Best Wishes to you. >Chris< -*- End of Thread. -*- 83386 26-NOV 18:41 General Information Hard drive From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Hi Randy--I tried to use the seagate settings you sent me but I dont get that readout when I use Dmode.I get -- cyls, hds, step, sectrk, alloc, ilv, initcmd, and inittbl. Could you relate the two descriptions?? -*- 83395 26-NOV 21:47 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83386) From: RANDYKWILSON To: PHILSCHERER Okay, Phil. Looks like a difference is dmode commands. Yours has a few scsi specific items in it. S, is this a MFM drive on a B&B, or a "N" series on something else? Might make a difference. Anyway: Cyl = Cyl = $267 (615) Hds = Sid = 04 step = Stp = 06 (B&Bspecific) sectrk= sct = $22 (34) alloc = ??? (may be typ at $80) ilv = ilv = depends on your system and cpu type initcmd and inittbl are both SCSI specific. Randy -*- 83417 27-NOV 07:52 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83395) From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Hi Randy--I have a Disto SCII with a hard drive interface. -*- 83425 27-NOV 13:14 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83417) From: RANDYKWILSON To: PHILSCHERER Oh, okay. We need the whole picture here. Is this a SCSI drive, or do you have the magic Adaptec board? What sort of connector is on the back of the drive? Randy -*- 83431 27-NOV 18:39 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83425) From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Hi Randy--I'm pretty sure the st225 is an MFM. It has the same hookup as a Rodime MFM drive that I run now with a WD1002 controller. -*- 83435 27-NOV 21:16 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83431) From: RANDYKWILSON To: PHILSCHERER Ah, so you have an adapter board to convert the st506/412 (MFM) drive to SCSI? If thats the case, I'd start with the descriptor for the Rodime, and change the cyl, heads (sides), and the drive number to match the Seagate. See what happens. Randy -*- 83449 28-NOV 09:27 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83435) From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Hi Randy--I think somethings going over my head. What I'm running now is a Disto SCII with hard drive interface using a SASI driver and a WD1002 controller and RODIME MFM 22meg drive. I dont have any SCSI in my system. The st225 looks like it has the same hookup as the Rodime and I'm assuming it also is MFM. -*- 83455 28-NOV 13:14 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83449) From: RANDYKWILSON To: PHILSCHERER I was thinking later Disto with the SCSI. Everything said stil applies to your SASI system; just change teh C to an A in a few places. :> Randy -*- 83474 28-NOV 18:31 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83455) From: PHILSCHERER To: RANDYKWILSON Thanks for the reply Randy--BTW SC looks good! -*- 83503 28-NOV 22:19 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83449) From: KSCALES To: PHILSCHERER > Hi Randy--I think somethings going over my head. What I'm running now is > a Disto SCII with hard drive interface using a SASI driver and a WD1002 > controller and RODIME MFM 22meg drive. I dont have any SCSI in my > system. The st225 looks like it has the same hookup as the Rodime and I'm > assuming it also is MFM. Hi, Phil - Could we step back a little; I went back as far as I could in this thread, but wasn't able to find a description of your original problem. Are you trying to add a second (i.e. ST225) drive to your Disto SASI system, in addition to your Rodime? What all have you done? Which version of CCHDisk are you using (original, or the patched version using cchdsasi.ar? What do your descriptors (both of them) look like? What are the drive-select strappings set for on the ST225? Do you have a straight-through 34-pin cable, or does it have the IBMoid twist in it? (You don't want the twist.) Hopefully, with enough info, we will be able to help out. Cheers... / Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83530 29-NOV 18:22 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83503) From: PHILSCHERER To: KSCALES Hi Ken--I want to determine if this st225 is operable. I wasn't planning to chain it although I might replace the Rodime because the st225 is half height. The cchdisk I'm using came from an archive that had three st225 descriptors in it. I installed the driver but didn't use the descriptors because I didn't have an st225. My cable is straight in with no twist. -*- 83545 29-NOV 22:29 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83530) From: KSCALES To: PHILSCHERER Hi, Phil - > Hi Ken--I want to determine if this st225 is operable. I wasn't planning > to chain it although I might replace the Rodime because the st225 is half > height. The cchdisk I'm using came from an archive that had three st225 > descriptors in it. I installed the driver but didn't use the descriptors > because I didn't have an st225. My cable is straight in with no twist. That archive was probably my cchdsasi patch file. The descriptors should be correct for your drive, when used with the WD-1002-SHD or WD-1002-TAN (if I remember correctly) SASI interfaces. Good luck. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83585 30-NOV 11:50 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83449) From: CBJ To: PHILSCHERER Phil, You have an MFM drive and you can use it just fine on the SASI board you have hooked to that RODIME. Make sure you set the jumpers on the Seagate so it is Drive 1 as opposed to drive 0. Use the stock descriptor from the Disto disk since it is set up for a Seagate ST225. Everything should work just fine. -Carl.. -*- 83589 30-NOV 19:16 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83545) From: PHILSCHERER To: KSCALES Hi Ken--I made a new boot disk and used the descriptors. At this point when I fire up hdformat, it gets to the point where it starts the format but the drive light comes on and the drive runs but that's it. No step sounds or anything. -*- 83590 30-NOV 19:18 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83585) From: PHILSCHERER To: CBJ Hi Carl--Thanks for the reply--I'm trying to run it as /H0 but it just spins and doesn't seem to procede with the format. -*- 83613 30-NOV 22:52 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83589) From: KSCALES To: PHILSCHERER > Hi Ken--I made a new boot disk and used the descriptors. At this point > when I fire up hdformat, it gets to the point where it starts the format > but the drive light comes on and the drive runs but that's it. No step > sounds or anything. Phil, one thought: if all of the cables are known to be good, then it might be worth looking at the 12V power supply. It may not be able to drive the stepper. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83643 1-DEC 18:31 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83613) From: PHILSCHERER To: KSCALES Hi Ken--I'm using a 150W switching supply with only the HD connected. -*- 83665 2-DEC 00:16 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83643) From: KSCALES To: PHILSCHERER > Hi Ken--I'm using a 150W switching supply with only the HD connected. > Hi again, Phil - Hmmm... that might it. It is not uncommon for a switching supply to require more of a load than a single hard drive, in order for the supply to come up to full power. For example, another local user found he needed to connect at least one floppy in addition to his ST238 to make his power supply work. Others have attached load resistors to accomplish the same purpose, but I would prefer to see the heat serving a useful purpose . Try connecting another drive and see if this helps. Cheers... / Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83674 2-DEC 19:27 General Information RE: Hard drive (Re: Msg 83665) From: PHILSCHERER To: KSCALES Hi Ken -- I tried it with the Rodime still running also but not connected to the data cable. No cigar. I guess maybe it's looking for the round file. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83388 26-NOV 19:29 Telecom (6809) RiBBS From: DENNYWRIGHT To: ALL Can anyone tell me what might cause an error 211 in 'connect'. I have Ribbs 2.10and I am having trouble setting it up. I have created all the necessary text files and stuff. But when I go to start up Ribbs according to the docs, gain. Can anybody tell me what may be wrong? I checked the crc of the connect module and it's good. -*- 83456 28-NOV 13:17 Telecom (6809) RE: RiBBS (Re: Msg 83388) From: STEWARD To: DENNYWRIGHT A common cause for that error is that you want to make sure that you don't have an extra carriage return at the end of the .ctl files. Meaning, make sure the file ends on the same line as the last entry. Also, you you create the log file, a good way to create that would be to do a echo date >ribbs.log Hope this helps -*- End of Thread. -*- 83409 27-NOV 05:05 Telecom (6809) WizPro From: ISC To: ALL I have downloaded most of the files related to WizPro, and, yet, I cannot get it to work. The main documentation seems to be missing. Can anyone help? Thanks. Bill -*- 83418 27-NOV 08:01 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83409) From: PHILSCHERER To: ISC Hi Bill--I used to use Wizpro and I think I have everything. What do you need? BTW I think I remember that you need to have a Wizpro driver or descriptor in your boot. Been a long time and I dont remember exactly. -*- 83419 27-NOV 10:48 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83418) From: REVWCP To: PHILSCHERER Phil, I saw you response to Bill (ISC) and you are correct. One of the problems with WIZ and/or WizPro was the need to make up a special boot disk. ---Br. Jeremy -*- 83514 29-NOV 00:27 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83418) From: ISC To: PHILSCHERER Phil, I need to make a new bootdisk for Wizpro again. If it doesn't work I'll be back. Thanks for being there. Bill -*- 83689 2-DEC 23:14 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83409) From: THETAURUS To: ISC Bill, I believe the main documentation is in it's own seperate archive. I tried setting up Wizpro previously, and it just wasn't worth the effort. Looked great, but I couldn't keep it up too long and never got it too work. I do remember having to download the main doc seperately. >Chris< -*- 83697 3-DEC 03:07 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83689) From: ISC To: THETAURUS (NR) Chris, Thanks for the info about Wizpro. I have been using Supercomm a lot and I don't mind it, I just was curious about WizPro because the guy who wrote it also wrote a book about OS9, and he brags a lot about WizPro in his book. I may try it again later, but I now have another problem related to hardware. I just bought 2 80 track diskette units and I can't get them to work as /d0. I had the jumpers set for /d0, but they give I/O errors in DECB and will not read OS9 diskettes as /d0. They work OK as /d1. Do you know what else I have to do to configure them as /d0? When I try them, they just continuously seek when they are connected as /d0. Thanks for the info again. Bill -*- 83732 4-DEC 00:21 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83697) From: COCOKIWI To: ISC sounds like you need to reconfig the /d0 Discriptor....... if those are 96tpi drives.....80 track double sided! I ran into a weird problem with those drives! I got real confused.... I have a 80 track double sided on mine as /d2 and use a 80trk 3.5" as /D0 thinking I have a Quad drive<96tpi> I setup the Dmode as 96tpi and ran a test ,after doing that the drive would verify ok,and then crash as one tried to read it later,on reading Dmode on would find the tpi BACK to 48tpi! formating it at 48tpi worked fine!.....The dmode I have came with the disto H/Drive board....and it allows one to change tpi....others do not! at lest the ORG one don,t! change the tracks and stuff on it and it should sort out the problem! Dennis -*- 83740 4-DEC 04:18 Telecom (6809) RE: WizPro (Re: Msg 83732) From: ISC To: COCOKIWI (NR) Dennis, Thanks one more time. I will try Dmoding the drives as you suggest and get back. Bill -*- End of Thread. -*- 83414 27-NOV 05:59 Programmers Den Annoying exit on EOF From: TELENUT To: ALL Please help! I am wrighting several applications that, in order to be as versitile as possible must be started and use input from a procedure file. I have run into one very annoying problem. After the program (executed by a procedure file) finishes tasks in the procedure file (the same one) reaching the end of the procedure file, it exits with an EOF error #000:211. The procdure file looks like this: launch buttonone yes buttontwo yes buttonthree yes buttonfour no (end of file) The util sets up four buttons this way and then waits for a button to be pressed. When it reached the "no" it enters wait mode and then that annoying EOF breaks the program and returns to the shell. I have tried changing shell options to stop it from exiting on EOF but I haven't tried changing tmode settings. Funny, seems I solved this problem before but I don't remember. The actual "launch" program is written in MW BASIC(09) on an MM/1. I am using TSMON. BTW, I have thought about using option support but there are utils that wouldn't be as flexable. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Dave -*- 83426 27-NOV 14:25 General Information 4 Meg Memory Hack From: MARKGRIFFITH To: ALL Attention All MM/1 Owners: Minimum allocation size: 0.25 K-bytes Number of memory segments: 6 Total RAM at startup: 9140.25 K-bytes Current total free RAM: 8789.25 K-bytes Free memory map: Segment Address Size of Segment ----------------- -------------------------- $4E00 $200 0.50 K-bytes $24C00 $200 0.50 K-bytes $2AC00 $7BA000 7912.00 K-bytes $7F2C00 $500 1.25 K-bytes $7F3700 $500 1.25 K-bytes $801400 $DA700 873.75 K-bytes This is the output of mfree after completeing the 4 Meg Memory Hack on an MM/1. Notice the 8 Meg of free RAM! You too can have this. There are two ways to get the hack. Ask me and I'll send you the details so you can do it yourself. However, be cautioned that this is not a pretty hack, nor is it easy to do. You'll need to have a good amount of experience in soldering, cutting traces, pulling pins up on already soldered in chips, piggybacking chips, and running tiny wires around on the board. If you have never done something like this, I wouldn't attempt it yourself. You can do permanent and fatal damage to the I/O board. The other method is to let me do it for you. For a $50 charge, I'll perform the hack, test it, and make a new init module for you. I'll also guarantee my work for a year (the hack only). All you need to do is send me your I/O board. If you want me to include the 4 Meg SIMMs, let me know. I haven't priced them lately, but I'm sure I can get some at a reasonable price for you. I should be able to do the hack and get your board back within 2 weeks. This would make a great Christman present to yourself. If anyone is interested, let me know via email. Mark Griffith Dirt Cheap Computer Stuff Co. "Cheap, But Not Trash" (Uploaded with InfoXpress Ver. 1.01) -*- 83678 2-DEC 21:14 General Information RE: 4 Meg Memory Hack (Re: Msg 83426) From: HAWKSOFT To: MARKGRIFFITH PLEASE send more info (4 meg hack) :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> Chris <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: -*- 83680 2-DEC 21:27 General Information RE: 4 Meg Memory Hack (Re: Msg 83678) From: MITHELEN To: HAWKSOFT Chris, Mark Sent me this info already, and with his permission, I will make copies to distribute to MM/1 owners at the next Glenside meeting... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- End of Thread. -*- 83427 27-NOV 14:42 Programmers Den C help From: MRGOOD To: ALL HELP! I'm trying to write a program using Mark Griffith's skel.c framework. Actually, I had a working version using the Coco skel.c. My current problem is with menus. I have 3 menus defined. If I click on a menu, it drops down and I can select items from that menu with no problem. HOWEVER, if I decide to move the mouse off the menu, the program goes and hangs in a portion of the program where I create an overlay window. I'm about to pull out my remaining hair on this one. I've stayed fairly faithful to Mark's original framework. I'm open to ideas, suggestions, experience, bug reports, etc. Thanks in advance. Hugo -*- 83430 27-NOV 17:19 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83427) From: BANANAMAN To: MRGOOD It sounds like something is getting stomped on when you pull down the menu. Happens to me whenever I go tinkering with my menus, too. Just make sure that element that defines the width in characters of the menu is one greater than the actual length of the menu. If you need some more examples, I can E-Mail you some of mine. --Andy -*- 83447 28-NOV 07:12 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83427) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MRGOOD Hugo, > I've stayed fairly faithful to Mark's original framework. I'm open > to ideas, suggestions, experience, bug reports, etc. Code fragments would really help. There is no way to easily tell what is going on without seeing what you are doing. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83458 28-NOV 13:19 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83430) From: MRGOOD To: BANANAMAN I've made sure the menu width is one greater than the widest entry, but the problem persists. Hugo -*- 83459 28-NOV 13:22 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83447) From: MRGOOD To: MARKGRIFFITH I may just upload the whole thing into the databases here. Code fragments may end up being too big for forum messages. Hugo -*- 83581 30-NOV 07:36 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83459) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MRGOOD Hugo, > I may just upload the whole thing into the databases here. Code > fragments may end up being too big for forum messages. You can just put up the function or a part of the function that is causing the problem. Obviously, whatever is happening after you select the menu item is the problem. All we would need to see is that function. No need to upload the entire program. The point is, if you want people to help you with your efforts, you should make it as easy as possible for them. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83605 30-NOV 21:00 Programmers Den RE: C help (Re: Msg 83581) From: MRGOOD To: MARKGRIFFITH Hi Mark, I found the problem the next day. Sometimes all it takes is some rest and time away from the computer to realize what's going on. Basically, I wasn't doing things in thr right order. Funny the program worked on the Coco though. Hugo -*- End of Thread. -*- 83434 27-NOV 20:05 Telecom (6809) BBS From: ILLUSIONIST To: ALL does anyone know of a bbs system for OS-9 level 2, that can run on 2 720k drives? preferrably a "small" bbs, I dont need any real fancy stuff, I just want an easy way to have a few friends of mine (5 of em) to be able to send mail back and forth to each other and up/download files...I would like to use StG, but if I download it on 1 drive, I cant un-ar it, as I am sure it takes more than 360k..my 20meg HD is FILLED no more room, practically..and I would like to just have my 720k and 360k drives for the BBS, I am planning on hooking up a 2nd 720 in a few days or so..but am still wondering about BBS software..btw, does ANY coco BBS system support multiable terminal types? like ANSI,VT100,and WYSE 50?? actually, I just need support for wyse and vt100... -* Mike -*- 83441 28-NOV 02:04 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83434) From: MITHELEN To: ILLUSIONIST You can set up a StG system on on 2 720K drived, no problem.. I think someone even did it with 2 360k drives... Try extracting part of the files to the second drive, and then, when that is full, extract the rest... A lot of the stuff in the archive is example menus, help files, and extra programs that you won't need if you just want a simple E-Mail system for your friends. StG V3 supports ANSI, OS-9 Level 2, and Plain Text modes with its menuing program... StG V4 (not available yet) supports all terminal types, through Termcap. -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com Please, Send Money! My hard drive crashed, and I'm too broke to get a new one. -*- 83453 28-NOV 11:51 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83441) From: ILLUSIONIST To: MITHELEN Ok, I will give it a shot..when I get a new HD set up, I might run a "real" bbs..and put it on StGNet..thanks for the info.. -* Mike -*- 83467 28-NOV 14:46 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83434) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: ILLUSIONIST my real early version of apbbs was run off two 360k disk drives. It may still be available here (the 2.XX version) -*- 83469 28-NOV 15:43 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83441) From: ILLUSIONIST To: MITHELEN Nope, I downloaded the .ar file for StG, I cant use it on the floppies... inside the .ar file is a mess of .LZH files, all the cmds are in 1 .LZH and take up about 500k ...so I cant get the lzh file out of the .ar to unlzh..because the entire .ar is on a 720k disk, and I only have the 1 360k floppy for space to unar..unless I clear off around 700k or so off my HD but I really dont want to do that just to extract something..to bad the cmds are bundled up like on the demo version of StG..in 2 parts..oh well.. I guess I will have to wait till I get another 720k drive..probably around 4 weeks..by the time it actually gets here (after I order 1).. I guess I will have to take a look at AcBBS, or RIBBS..or just roll my own until I can get StG to run..the MENU systems in the DB's would work for a menu, and the OS-9 mail system would work nice for the mail..all I would have to do is make a quick basic09 program to "chain" them all together along with calls to sz/rz and bingo..my goal would be accomplised..of course running StG would be MUCH nicer..oh well..actually, come to think of it what exactly doesnt work with the demo release? is is the login command? if so, could someone send me the corrected modules (email or on disk) and I will just use the demo release.. -* Mike -*- 83501 28-NOV 22:12 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83469) From: MITHELEN To: ILLUSIONIST Ok... Tell ya what... I download the StG Demo archive this week, and redo the archive so you can ectract on 360k drives... The "original" demo version archive WAS set up better, then a second Demo releasearchive was done, and the archives were not done by me, so they wern't set up as nice 8-) The only thing "missing" from the demo version is network registration. It is fully functional as a non-networking bbs. When you pay the registration fee, you submit a system node name for your system, and you get a get a network "password" for your system. -- Paul -*- 83509 28-NOV 23:15 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83501) From: ILLUSIONIST To: MITHELEN No, I can extract the demo version just fine, but when I run it, (try and change passwords is what I think "nailed me") the system hung.. I heard somewhere that the password command was bad or some such thing.. I forget, but I can extract, just cant run it too well.. :( -* Mike -*- 83510 28-NOV 23:37 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83509) From: MITHELEN To: ILLUSIONIST Oh.. Hmm... you mean if you try to set a users password it hangs? hmm.. you might be right about a bad copy of the password command in the archive... I think I recall Brian Schubring having the same trouble... I'll mail you a copy of the "password" command from Carls system when I get home tonight, and you can try that when you get a chance, and see if that fixes the problem... if it does, I'll post a correction to the database... -- Paul -*- 83531 29-NOV 18:54 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83510) From: ILLUSIONIST To: MITHELEN ok thanks, I have wanted to set up StG for awhile, and give it a test run get familar with it, and then set up a full time board, and now, with my friends and I needing easy file transfer and email, seems like an ideal time..I will be keeping an eye out for the mail.. -* Mike -*- 83564 30-NOV 01:14 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83501) From: WOLFDEN To: MITHELEN Paul, I'm a couple of days behind in the forum (This is Jim Vestal by the way using Tim Mohr's Delphi account). I'm in the midst of making new archives for StG Version 3... I found several updates to the other archives and I will working on some additional docs. I should be done this week and have I'll upload it for submission. The new archives will be compressed into smaller files. You don't have to bother with downloading it if you don't won't to. I'll send a copy to Mike too. Jim -*- 83565 30-NOV 01:16 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83509) From: WOLFDEN To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, I'll send you an updated archives of the StG package. I'm also working on updateing some of the docs... feel free to leave me mail (this is Jim Vestal my the way) on this account or call me anytime. See the message I just sent Paul. Jim -*- 83587 30-NOV 12:10 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83434) From: CBJ To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, Talk to Mithelen. He can give you the straight dope on StG. It is the software I use. What kind of HD setup do you have? If you decide to go with StG I may be willing to donate a small MfM hard drive to you to get you in the Net. There would be strings attached though....You have to net for 6 months. Leave me E-Mail if you are interested in getting the small Hard drive and StG but talk to Paul (mithelen) first. Carl -*- 83588 30-NOV 12:12 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83469) From: CBJ To: ILLUSIONIST I'm sure Paul & I can get you set up with StG. Give us a day or two after replying to us if you are still interested. Carl -*- 83594 30-NOV 19:39 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83565) From: ILLUSIONIST To: WOLFDEN Thanks! I just placed an order for a new 720k drive, I am still playing with ideas on a new HD (If I want to get a bigger/add another MFM, or just go SCSI), SCSI is looking nice though..so, I might go for it.. btw, we will have a new OS-9/6809 user soon, (about a month) a friend has done what may be the ultimate upgrade (with th exception of buying a Cray) he is moving from an Apple II, to a coco under OS-9. He saw my coco, and decided to go for it, when he gets an HD set up, and gets a handle on OS-9 he wants to run a BBS (and of course I will recommend StG)... So, between my set eventually going online as a BBS, and his, we should see 2 more CoCo BBS's soon, both running StG!! ~ -* Mike -*- 83596 30-NOV 19:42 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83587) From: ILLUSIONIST To: CBJ Thanks for the offer, I have a B&B setup, I am tinkering with the idea of going SCSI though..if I do decide to stick with MFM, I will definatly consider the offer..thanks again... -* Mike -*- 83607 30-NOV 21:29 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83564) From: MITHELEN To: WOLFDEN Thanks Jim... A sugestion for the archives.. use lha 2.11b... and don't do archives in archives... also... try to seperate the commands into two archives. one containing the bare minimal commands to get a simple system running with Mail, the oither containing all the nice little extra programs, and the News utils... That way, if someone just wants to get a E-Mail system up and running, then all they need to download is the basic command archive... I don't know if you ever saw the way I originally did the first Shareware arcvhie's, but it was pretty much done this way... (I'll look to see if I can find the original archive, or at least the makefile I used to create the archives) -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83635 1-DEC 05:20 Telecom (6809) RE: BBS (Re: Msg 83594) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: ILLUSIONIST Ive swung a few os9 users in, one is an ex-atari ST user. I found it hard to believe the ST was supported WORSE then the CoCo. Fortuntly I switched to ribbs a few months back to get the coco/os9 echos. It has helped out alot. Mike -*- End of Thread. -*- 83439 27-NOV 23:56 System Modules (6809) st-225 From: RICHKOTTKE To: RANDYKWILSON Randy, According to my Seagate Installer's manual, the ST-225 is a MFM drive with 4 heads, 615 tracks and a step pulse of 5-200 microseconds. You need to set up the driver so it write precompensates tracks 300-614. It DOES NOT have an auto-park feature, so you should remember to park it before powerdown. If you need to know anything else drop me some e-mail. -Rich -*- 83440 27-NOV 23:56 System Modules (6809) Hard drives From: RICHKOTTKE To: ALL Does anyone know if it's ok to run an RLL drive in MFM mode using an MFM controller? -Rich -*- 83442 28-NOV 02:09 System Modules (6809) RE: Hard drives (Re: Msg 83440) From: MITHELEN To: RICHKOTTKE Re: RLLS drives as MFM... Ya.. this is no problem... You should not do the reverse though. -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83468 28-NOV 14:48 System Modules (6809) RE: Hard drives (Re: Msg 83440) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: RICHKOTTKE yes you can do that. I ran a ST238R as a 20 megger for years. The only difference between the drive is the 238R was tested with the tighter format (a ST238R is basically the same as a ST225, just cramming in more sectors per track) Im using my Seagate ST238R as an example, but a real example. I have done the opposite, ran into some problems down the road since a MFM drive isn't tested to take an RLL format, its risky -*- End of Thread. -*- 83452 28-NOV 11:24 General Information Using hdbackup From: LUCKYONE To: MARKGRIFFITH Hi, for the first time I have decided to do a backup of my HD (I've heard it is the thing to do.) and as I mentioned in my last message to you I used MW's fsave and that didn't work. Today (11/21/93) I decided to use hdbackup to get the job done. I enter the command line hdbackup -f -d /dd -o /f0 and everything seemed to be going well. I left my computer to do something else and when I came back the computer was completely hung up. After rebooting I did a listing of the backup.full.1 file in the log directory. The listing was showing all of the files that had been backed up when all of a sudden it started showing text from what looks like one of the ix compuserve files. Any thoughts about this? Has anyone else had this problem? The last file saved was /dd/GAMES/SeaBattle and the next one is Also the flopptical still had 53% space left on it. I checked /dd with dcheck and the file structure is intact. I hope this is enough info to give you an idea of the situation. Thanks for any help you can give me. Howard Luckey delphi LUCKYONE CIS 74746,3207 ********** By InfoXpress 1.01 of course! ********** -*- 83466 28-NOV 14:33 General Information RE: Using hdbackup (Re: Msg 83452) From: JOELHEGBERG To: LUCKYONE Howard, Thanks so much for sending those pictures! I'm mailing some out to you very soon now. It was a very pleasant surprise! :) > hdbackup -f -d /dd -o /f0 > > and everything seemed to be going well. I left my computer to do > something else and when I came back the computer was completely hung up. I had this problem, too. I think you have an old version of hdbackup. I know the original version had a bug (memory allocation I believe) and I think Mark reuploaded the program here so the Delphi version was fixed, but not sure (Mark?). I will email you the copy I have that works. -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83580 30-NOV 07:36 General Information RE: Using hdbackup (Re: Msg 83452) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: LUCKYONE Howard, > and everything seemed to be going well. I left my computer to do > something else and when I came back the computer was completely hung up. As Joel as mentioned, there is a version with a memory allocation bug. I can't remember if I uploaded the corrected version to Delphi or not. If not, I'll do that. In the mean time, I can send you binary mail with the correct one. It'll be in you mail box tomorrow or the next day. Sorry for the trouble. /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- 83746 4-DEC 10:26 General Information RE: Using hdbackup (Re: Msg 83466) From: LUCKYONE To: JOELHEGBERG (NR) Joel, thanks for the help and the uploaded file. Howard -*- 83747 4-DEC 10:27 General Information RE: Using hdbackup (Re: Msg 83580) From: LUCKYONE To: MARKGRIFFITH (NR) Mark, thanks for the help and the uploaded file. I hope to backup my hard drive soon. Howard -*- End of Thread. -*- 83463 28-NOV 14:12 Applications (6809) lha211b From: WTHOMPSON To: VE3DAC I have a problem you could relay to Gene about lha 2.11b, I will also notify Wes Gale as the problem is that lha will stop in the middle of execution when I try to archive something. Here is th output: Creating archive : test.lzh ==> Freezing file.txt oooooo ^ lha will STOP right here. The temporary file exists but it is not a "legal" lzh file. ie. it seems to lockup before it gets to the renameing portion of the program. The reason I am also going to tell Wes is that this only happens when I'm booted up with NitrOS-9 v1.16. LHA works fine with Nitro v1.15! Thanks, Wayne -*- 83561 30-NOV 00:32 Applications (6809) RE: lha211b (Re: Msg 83463) From: VE3DAC To: WTHOMPSON Well, finally someone else has the problem I do. Like you I was going fine til Nitro 1.16. However when I mentioned it over on Fido, one oth er person said it was running fine on his system using 1.16. It seemed I was the only one. Gene K. is not running a 6309 so he can't be of much help to us. Please let Wes know that I have company with this problem. I don't think he saw my message about the problem, since that was when his board was dowm. Gene is aware that I have a problem, but isn't too sure just what it might be, perhaps when the xlh module is called. I haven't used LHA on the Nitro'd computer, just on the BBS which is still 6809, for awhile. Gene is waiting for more detective work from me (and now you). Merv -*- 83684 2-DEC 22:29 Applications (6809) RE: lha211b (Re: Msg 83561) From: WTHOMPSON To: VE3DAC (NR) I think the problem may be narrowed down to the v1.16 of RBF30. BTW I was the person who "did't" have a problem with LHA and v1.16. :-) At the time I was using the Tandy RBF that was nitro'd. As soon as I put the v1.16 RBF30 in my boot I started to have the problem with LHA! So what I have been doing is using a v1.15 boot with the Nitro's Tandy RBF when I use LHA. I have been talking to Wes in e-mail and he will take a look at it too. Thanks, Wayne -*- End of Thread. -*- 83464 28-NOV 14:22 Applications (6809) LHA 2.11b and Nitro From: WTHOMPSON To: WESGALE Wes, I am haveing problems with the lha archiver and Nitro v1.16. I gave details of the problem in message #83463. Basically what is happening is lha will lock up when executed under Nitro v1.16 but will work fine with v1.15! The differences between the 1.15 and 1.16 boot disks is: CC3Go.nv116, CC3IO.nv116, RBF30.nv116. I'm pretty sure thats theonly differences between the 2 boots. I don't have RBF30 in the v1.15 boot, I used the Tandy RBF when I 1st got nitro and only recently patched rbf30 up to v1.16 nitro. Let me know if you need more info! Thanks, Wayne ps. I love NitrOS-9! -*- 83489 28-NOV 21:28 Programmers Den Shanghai OS-9 From: EARTHER To: ALL Did anyone ever save the Shanghai cartridge to disk and run the game under RS-DOS? For the last two weeks my other CoCo 3 has been dedicated to running Shanghai (the original cartridge game). I've owned the game since it first came out (paid $34.95 I believe) and I'm just now getting around to playing the game. It definately is addictive. My other CoCo is busy with coding the game for OS-9. I can't wait to see the finished program so that I can yank that dang cartridge out of my other CoCo to get it OS-9ing again. Anyway... I'm looking for some Oriental style artwork (public domain) to use as background artwork for Shanghai OS-9. Does anyone know of a source? Shawn Driscoll Will a SONY FusionMan work with my CoCo? -*- 83497 28-NOV 21:52 Programmers Den RE: Shanghai OS-9 (Re: Msg 83489) From: ILLUSIONIST To: EARTHER hmm, oriental artwork...hmmm..contact PUGDOG here on delphi, and ask him about using the Japanese Gifs in the gallery of graphics, it is my understanding that they can be used, with permission...they would make nice backgrounds if I had a digitizer, I could digitze you some really nice artwork from my home and from school...I will see if I can get you some though, I am sure i can find SOME way to get you some nice oriental artwork.. -*- 83499 28-NOV 22:04 Programmers Den RE: Shanghai OS-9 (Re: Msg 83497) From: DSRTFOX To: EARTHER There is a patch in the CoCo SIG database for transferring the Shanghai cart. to disk. That's how I run it! -*- 83681 2-DEC 21:33 Programmers Den RE: Shanghai OS-9 (Re: Msg 83489) From: HAWKSOFT To: EARTHER YES! someone did save out Shanghai and run it under RSdos. ME!!!! Just save the rompak out to a file and delete the code that moves it to $2000 (I think). Then setup the file to load at $2000 (or maybe $3000 whereever it was suppos- ed to move to) and it runs great!!! :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> :-> Chris <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: <-: -*- End of Thread. -*- 83491 28-NOV 21:31 Programmers Den Kwindows controls From: MRGOOD To: ALL OK, I found my menu bug, now I have a general question. I'd like to put resize, move, and back/front controls on my program. The docs say I have to OR the WT_FWIN with the appropriate WC_xxx controls. It's easy if you want just one, but how would I go about defining a framed windows with several controls? Hugo -*- 83582 30-NOV 07:36 Programmers Den RE: Kwindows controls (Re: Msg 83491) From: MARKGRIFFITH To: MRGOOD Hugo, > The docs say I have to OR the WT_FWIN with the appropriate WC_xxx > controls. > It's easy if you want just one, but how would I go about defining a > framed windows with several controls? You OR them all together. Like 'FT_this | FT_that | FT_other' /************* /\/\ark ************/ (uploaded with InfoXpress Ver 1.01) -*- End of Thread. -*- 83507 28-NOV 22:40 General Information Genie From: CLTUCKER To: JOELHEGBERG Hi Joel. I see that you are a Genie user. I am trying to connect to Genie. I dial Genie and get an answer with two or more tones as an answer but my computer does not cut through. Respond to Genie's answer signas. Any suggestions about this pblm. I am using a COCO3 with a Disto 4IN1 disk drive. I use Ultimaterm. Thks.:-) -*- 83571 30-NOV 03:09 General Information RE: Genie (Re: Msg 83507) From: JOELHEGBERG To: CLTUCKER > Hi Joel. I see that you are a > Genie user. I am trying to connect to Genie. I dial Genie and get an > answer with two or more tones as an answer but my computer does not cut > through. Respond to Genie's answer signas. Any suggestions about this > pblm. I am using a COCO3 with a Disto 4IN1 disk drive. I use Ultimaterm. Do you get a CONNECT message from your modem or not? Once you get a connection, you just type 3 capital H's, "HHH" and your logon will be requested. Let me know if you still can't get on. My modem port settings for GEnie are 7-E-1. -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- End of Thread. -*- 83508 28-NOV 23:01 General Information Hard Drive From: CLTUCKER To: ALL Does any one Know how or if a Sony SRD2040A hd can be made to work with the COCO3. It is 40meg. Thks.:-) -*- 83511 28-NOV 23:47 General Information Budget OSK machine From: DSRTFOX To: ALL Okay, I got stepped on before! I'm planning on putting together some under $1000 OSK systems. These will be COMPLETE systems with monitor, case, keyboard, hard drive, etc. And I mean UNDER $1000... for around $950 (S&H and all included) for an assembled unit, less for a component kit (you put in motherboard, etc., but ALL peices included.... the assembled unit just not assembled). These aren't meant to compete with the FHL and Delmar systems. They are BUDGET systems for those who can't afford the expense of the faster, better FHL and Delmar systems. I'm NOT in competition with them! If you're not sure if you want to go to OSK or not, consider one of these budget, upgradeable units. If you ARE sure you want OSK, then you might be better off with a System IV or KiX20. You would have nearly as much in one of these after an upgrade to a similar System IV anyway. There will be a build-up of these systems in "the world of 68' micros" at about the same time they would actually ship... around mid March or April at the earliest. If you might be interested in such a unit, reply to ME, please! UNIT CONSISTS OF: 10MHz 68000 1MB RAM Case (four drive bays) CGA monitor 20MB hard drive (MFM) Keyboard Power Supply 360K drive This is the PROPOSED system at the moment. I'm actually leaning more toward a monochrome monitor, since it has the necessary resolution to run G-windows. This system IS a bit slow for G-windows, but would be suitable for program development at least if the capability of running, even slow, is there. I'll stress that this is purely a beginner/budget machine ONLY. A faster version will not likely be available, but upgrade instructions will be readily available. Magazine articles would run on assembly, setup of OSK, and some upgrades. If there isn't enough interest, it won't happen. I need to have committments for a minimum of 5-10 units to make this a cost effective venture for all involved. -*- 83534 29-NOV 21:17 Programmers Den ReSizeWin() From: MRGOOD To: ALL OK, yet another question. How does one go about using the K-Windows ReSizeWin() function? I've put it in my program but it doesn't work right. I can select the resize icon and reszie the window. However, the newly sized window does not appear. Obviously, I'm not doing something right. Also, does ReSizeWin() check to see if the window is smaller than the original _ss_wset call used to create the opening window? If it doesn't, what should I do? Hugo -*- 83576 30-NOV 03:40 Programmers Den RE: ReSizeWin() (Re: Msg 83534) From: JOELHEGBERG To: MRGOOD > OK, yet another question. How does one go about using > the K-Windows ReSizeWin() function? I've put it in my program but > it doesn't work right. I can select the resize icon and reszie the > window. However, the newly sized window does not appear. Obviously, > I'm not doing something right. Actually, you probably are... you just have to redraw the window. :) K-Windows does not do that for you. > Also, does ReSizeWin() check to see if the window is smaller > than the original _ss_wset call used to create the opening window? I don't use a lot of the cgfx.l functions (write most of my own), so I don't know what _ss_wset is, but I do know that ReSizeWin() doesn't do any size checking. > If it doesn't, what should I do? Use _gs_scsz() to determine the new screen size after resizing, and see if the window is too small... if it is, you have to DWEnd and DWSet again... or there are some other tricks of the trade. -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83604 30-NOV 20:56 Programmers Den RE: ReSizeWin() (Re: Msg 83576) From: MRGOOD To: JOELHEGBERG _ss_wset is the call for creating a window type based on whatever structure you define. So it sounds like I have to do a _ss_wset after a ReSizeWin() call. Hugo -*- 83610 30-NOV 21:55 Programmers Den RE: ReSizeWin() (Re: Msg 83576) From: MRGOOD To: JOELHEGBERG I could use some help with this stuff! I'd like to take care of the case where the user makes the new window too small. Obviously, I have to make it bigger. I'd like to keep the upper lefthand corner in the same spot. 1. How do I find the coordinates of the current window (in char positions)? 2. If I DWEnd, doesn't the screen disappear if that was the last window on the screen? If yes, is there a way to "hold" on to the screen until I can DWSet a new window? Playing with this stuff is kinda neat. Too bad I'm not doing this for profit :-) Hugo -*- 83634 1-DEC 04:51 Programmers Den RE: ReSizeWin() (Re: Msg 83610) From: JOELHEGBERG To: MRGOOD Hugo, > 1. How do I find the coordinates of the current window (in > char positions)? You have to use the _gs_winfo() call, and take the pixel values and divide them by 8 to get the char position values. K-Windows only places screen on char pos. boundaries, so these are guaranteed to have no remainders. > 2. If I DWEnd, doesn't the screen disappear if that was the last > window on the screen? If yes, is there a way to "hold" on to the > screen until I can DWSet a new window? Ok, this is a 10,000 question. The answer is there's a trick... You can actually forget about sending a DWEnd() call to the window, and simply send a new DWSet() call using window type $fe and all the usual parameters you have got from the _gs_winfo() call to keep the window in the same spot. But, there's a problem, since there's an implied DWEnd() in sending a new DWSet to an existing window. Now, the reason why you dare not send the DWEnd() is, as you mentioned, the screen vanishes and the new window will appear on another screen, rather than the one the user was originally on. The problem with not sending it, is the system can die, or get messed up since when K-Windows sees the DWSet call taking place on an existing window, it performs a DWEnd, but neglects to keep the rest of the DWSet display string preserved, so bad things happen. A strange thing, though. Although I proved that the correct display codes were being sent (by redirecing program output to a disk file, then DUMPing its contents), the problem existed, yet when I used the program 'display' to send the EXACT same sequence of codes to an existing window, it worked!! So, what is the difference? 'Display' sends the bytes one at a time... a separate write() call for each byte. DWSet() cgfx.l library call sends all bytes at once, and when the implied DWEnd() occurs, K-Windows forgets about the other bytes. Soooooooooo... just write your own routine to send out the bytes one at a time. Here's what I use: resize(xloc,yloc,xsiz,ysiz) int xloc,yloc,xsiz,ysiz; { int e; char temp_buff[13]; temp_buff[0]=0x1b; temp_buff[1]=0x20; /* DWSet */ temp_buff[2]=0xfe; /* Screen type $fe */ temp_buff[3]=(char)xloc; temp_buff[4]=(char)yloc; temp_buff[5]=(char)xsiz; temp_buff[6]=(char)ysiz; temp_buff[7]=0x0f; temp_buff[8]=0x0e; temp_buff[9]=0x00; temp_buff[10]=0x1b; /* Select call */ temp_buff[11]=0x21; temp_buff[12]=0x00; for(e=0;e<13;e++) write(path,&temp_buff[e],1); Select(0); /* Regain control of keyboard and mouse */ } Hope that helps! It should... it's one of the _BIG_ secrets of K-Windows developers... just don't write any programs that are better than mine, and I'll rest easier... -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83641 1-DEC 08:41 Programmers Den RE: ReSizeWin() (Re: Msg 83634) From: MRGOOD To: JOELHEGBERG Thanks very much for the code Joel. All I'm doing is porting the old UG Finance program to K-windows. I think Dick White was the author. Hugo P.S. - Actually, thanks for publicly releasing the BIG secret on resizing windows :-) -*- End of Thread. -*- 83542 29-NOV 22:21 General Information Conect From: WTHOMPSON To: ALL Has anyone heard from or been able to get a hold of Rick Ulland? I have tried E-mail and calling him, his answering machine doesn't even pick up anymore. I really need to get in touch with him. Any help would be appreciated!. Thanks, Wayne -*- 83546 29-NOV 22:30 General Information RE: Conect (Re: Msg 83542) From: RANDYKWILSON To: WTHOMPSON Gee, I'm talking to him as I type. He said to watch your email box. Randy -*- 83683 2-DEC 22:22 General Information RE: Conect (Re: Msg 83546) From: WTHOMPSON To: RANDYKWILSON I'll keep an eye on it. :-) Thanks, Wayne -*- End of Thread. -*- 83558 29-NOV 23:32 General Information KiX 30 boot fail From: BRIANGOERS To: ALL Well I managed to mess up my hard drive. I had the CoCo 3 running as a terminal at 4800 baud on the KiX and changed back to a Televideo to read and edit some text files. The screen on the CoCo was not displaying the text properly, that why I switched them. I think I logout from the KiX but I am not positive now. I decided to change the terminal to 4800 also so I would not have to changed the setup when I put the CoCo back on it. I used a floppy disk to boot the system but it doesn't recognize the hard drive. So I am asking for any ideas on how to continue. Or should I just re-install the system. Below is what the startup screen looks like (Error #000:215 just continues none stop). OS-9/68030 System Bootstrap for UniQuad Euro-K 30 Copyright 1991 Hazelwood Computer Systems RAM Size: 4 M ROM Size: 8 K UniQuad EK30 OS-9/68K V2.3 Error #000:214 <-------File not accessible Sysgo can't chx to 'CMDS' Sysgo can't open 'startup' file Error #000:215 <-------Bad pathlist specified Error #000:215 Brian Goers User group 6809 Vice President -*- 83619 1-DEC 00:27 General Information RE: KiX 30 boot fail (Re: Msg 83558) From: FHOGG To: BRIANGOERS Brian, It sounds like that floppy disk is bad. Do you have the original 1 of 3 OSK disks? That should boot ok. If not let me know and I'll send you another bootable disk. Best bet would be to call me at work while you are at the computer and maybe I can help. Frank -*- End of Thread. -*- 83601 30-NOV 20:10 System Modules (6809) Gshell From: ILLUSIONIST To: ALL Does anyone have any idea why Gshell would hang during the "rollover" of the menu bar? This never happened before, I just started setting up Gshell and MV for my girlfriend when she uses my CoCo, and everything hangs, I am using the STOCK tandy windint. and used the stock gshell also.???? I am stuck... -** Mike -*- 83608 30-NOV 21:31 System Modules (6809) RE: Gshell (Re: Msg 83601) From: RANDYKWILSON To: ILLUSIONIST Mike, try it with a Edition 9 clock module. It may well be an interupt problem. Randy -*- 83660 1-DEC 23:14 System Modules (6809) RE: Gshell (Re: Msg 83608) From: ILLUSIONIST To: RANDYKWILSON I have the ed. 9 clock installed crc is (ccc89f) its the software clock.. -*- End of Thread. -*- 83602 30-NOV 20:19 General Information bad hard rive From: KEITHBAUER To: ALL I am wonderng if anybody has any ideas on what I could do with a damaged hard drive. It is a Seagate ST157N 48 meg SCSI drive. It was running on my MM/1 when one day I could no longer read anything or format. I have thought about having it repaired but I am not sure where to send it or how much it would cost. I do not want to spend too much on fixing it though. Right now it is sitting on my shelf gathering dust. Thanks --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keith Bauer CIS :71102,317 Delphi :keithbauer Internet:kbauer@pids.com Via InfoXpress/OSK ver 1.01 How 'bout them Cowboys! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -*- 83611 30-NOV 22:11 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83602) From: REVWCP To: KEITHBAUER Dear Keith: Pick up a copy of Computer Shopper. In the most recent issue, there must be at least 5 or 6 companies that do hard drive repairs. (They are all located in California...Interesting new religions and hard driver repairers all seem to come from California...) In any case I think that some of the repair prices start around $35.00. I have an st-138n that I want to get repaired. The bearing whine so bad that it drownes out the sound of a Dustbuster. With all best wishes, Brother Jeremy, CSJW -*- 83637 1-DEC 05:24 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83602) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: KEITHBAUER A drive that small probably isn't fixable. (you could buya new one cheaper) I have a Seagate ST138N with a bad logic board. If I can find another one with dead heads or something, ill fix it myself. But I am not going to get it fixed. not worth it. Mike -*- 83646 1-DEC 20:08 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83611) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: REVWCP You have a bad ST-138N ?? I have one with a blown logic board, the heards er... heads, platters and all mechanics are OK. if you ever decide to get rid of it let me know! Unless you care to do a logic board transplant Mike -*- 83647 1-DEC 20:22 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83611) From: KEITHBAUER To: REVWCP Brother Jeremy, > Pick up a copy of Computer Shopper. In the most recent issue, there must > be at least 5 or 6 companies that do hard drive repairs. (They are all > located in California...Interesting new religions and hard driver > repairers all seem to come from California...) In any case I think that > some of the repair prices start around $35.00. I have an st-138n that I > want to get repaired. I will get a copy and check it out. $35.00 to $50.00 would be reasonable. thanks --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keith Bauer CIS :71102,317 Delphi :keithbauer Internet:kbauer@pids.com Via InfoXpress/OSK ver 1.01 How 'bout them Cowboys! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -*- 83648 1-DEC 20:23 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83637) From: KEITHBAUER To: MIKE_GUZZI Mike, > A drive that small probably isn't fixable. (you could buya new one > cheaper) I have a Seagate ST138N with a bad logic board. If I can find > another one with dead heads or something, ill fix it myself. But I am not Are you interested in mine? Maybe we can work out a trade. If you are interested, Email me. Thanks --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keith Bauer CIS :71102,317 Delphi :keithbauer Internet:kbauer@pids.com Via InfoXpress/OSK ver 1.01 How 'bout them Cowboys! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -*- 83653 1-DEC 21:03 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83611) From: DSRTFOX To: REVWCP Rev, you can put a dab of silicone lubricant on the bottom bearing ot hte hard drive.. the one that's exposed. A white lubricating grease if you can get it in there! The other possibility is that the bearing may not be whining at all. The grounding strap t hat touches the end of the drive shaft can resonate at a high frequency and cause a whine. a dab of silicone caulking compound or gasket making compound (RTV) will change the frequency this resonates at and dampen the whine to near nothing. Just a couple cheap things to try in your case... -*- 83657 1-DEC 22:21 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83646) From: REVWCP To: MIKE_GUZZI I'll let you know. --Jeremy -*- 83658 1-DEC 22:22 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83653) From: REVWCP To: DSRTFOX I will try it and let you know. Of course some day I have to write up the article of how I repaired the thing in the first place. -Jeremy -*- 83719 3-DEC 21:18 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83658) From: DSRTFOX To: REVWCP Please do! I'm planning a hard drive issue sometime next year, would be a good one for it! -*- 83744 4-DEC 07:02 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83648) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: KEITHBAUER (NR) If you have the same exact drive (seagate ST138N) with something like bad heads, motors, platters, as long as the logic board is ok. yes im interested! What kind of trade are you looking for? -*- 83745 4-DEC 07:06 General Information RE: bad hard rive (Re: Msg 83658) From: MIKE_GUZZI To: REVWCP (NR) If you are willing to do a board transplant, you can have my hard disk I really don't need it now that I have a pair of 85 meggers. It is confirmed the logic board on mine is fried (i reversed 5/12 volts) The drive will spin up and access its head and auto-park. but any access to the disk hangs it with the LED on. Changing the board isn't easy. It appears to have some mylar connectors if your willing to do such a thing, let me know. Mike -*- End of Thread. -*- 83603 30-NOV 20:54 General Information For SALE From: RCPOLK To: ALL HI!, Just a note to inform interested parties, that my ad for my COCO stuff, has now been posted. In my sadness in making this listing, I negelected to price the items, so I will accept what's fair (per previous ads asking prices). I also have numerous (original-no copies) software (rs-dos & os9). I also have a home controller unit and rom-pack for the X-10 and some rom-packs games. Let me know per mail (now on the PC database) of any inquires. Thanks....RICH -*- 83612 30-NOV 22:26 General Information UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 From: BOISY To: ALL I've been involved with Bob Billson's UUCP 4.2 upgrade (UUCP 5.1bb now) for over a year. With Bob finally ready to release it, I have ported it to OSK (using termcap) and am still debugging it. I'm sure there's a demand for an OSK version, but how much demand is there for an OS-9000 version? I know there are a few OS-9000 users here, so if you would like to see it, let me know. In addition to UUCP 4.2, I've ported PALM (Jeff Shepler's great package) to OSK and added termcap functionality as well. PALM is a great mail reader, and it should be fairly easy to port to OS-9000 as well. With regards to the Multi-Vue project, I am still awaiting source code from the guardian, Kent Meyers. -*- 83614 30-NOV 23:40 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83612) From: EMTWO To: BOISY Thats great Boisy. Just remember, many of us do not have Ultra-C, so we would need 'complete' binarys. -*- 83628 1-DEC 01:24 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83612) From: MITHELEN To: BOISY I've also ported Elm v2.4 pl21 to OSK... I haven't released it yet publically do to the fact that there wasn't a good (IMHO) UUCP package available for OSK, and I had to do some hacks to Ricks UUCP 4.2 for OSK to get it to run. When I get the new UUCP 5.1bb for OSK, I'll work on makeing sure Elm will run with it, and then post it publically if there are no conflicts... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83633 1-DEC 04:45 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83612) From: EDELMAR To: BOISY Boisy, There is an immediate need for a good port of UUCP to OSK. I'm interested. Re OS-9000 - I'd be interested in that, too. But I don't think there is much of a market for it, yet. However, if you can do the port to OS-9000, I think it'll be worthwhile helping to sell OS-9000. It would be nice when talking to prospects about OS-9000 to not have to 'dance' when asked about GP software . We need more packages for OS-9000. Ed -*- 83640 1-DEC 08:36 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83612) From: MRGOOD To: BOISY Boisy, I for one have been waiting for an OSK UUCP for almost a year now. I can't wait till you release it! Hugo -*- 83644 1-DEC 18:40 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83612) From: PHILSCHERER To: BOISY Hi Boisy--We can use all the OS9000 programs we can get! -*- 83645 1-DEC 18:47 General Information RE: UUCP 5.1bb for OS-9000 (Re: Msg 83633) From: PHILSCHERER To: EDELMAR Hi Ed--Better yet we need a complete VPC! -*- End of Thread. -*- 83630 1-DEC 03:28 OSK Applications <$1000 OSK Machine From: RICHKOTTKE To: FHOGG Frankm Right or wrong, I posted your message about converting CD-I players into OSK boxes on the COCO echo on the internet. It has caused quite a stir! Including at least one dude from Microware itself. I will e-mail the responses directly to you as they come in; unless you already monitor the Internet COCO echo, -Rich -*- 83656 1-DEC 22:19 OSK Applications RE: <$1000 OSK Machine (Re: Msg 83630) From: FHOGG To: RICHKOTTKE > Right or wrong, I posted your message about converting CD-I players into > OSK boxes on the COCO echo on the internet. It has caused quite a stir! > Including at least one dude from Microware itself. I will e-mail the > responses directly to you as they come in; unless you already monitor the > Internet COCO echo, Rich, Thanks for posting them. I am curious about those responces. I do not monitor the COCO echo so I would like to see them. Several things for everyone to remember. The coco is dead, no longer in production. No current OSK manuf. has made any inroads or sold any quanity in the consumer market. If just a small percentage of CD-I owners converted their players into computers it would likely create the largest single group of OSK users ever. In order to have software developers create software for OSK we need to show them large numbers of users. CD-I converted players are the only product that I know of that could possibly do this. I am going to spend a few hours over the next day or so rewriting my proposal on this project. I will use the feedback I've received so far. Frank -*- End of Thread. -*- 83631 1-DEC 03:54 Telecom (6809) SZ problems From: JWILKERSON To: ALL when doing a zmodem upload, SZ reports a "Security Violation" then ends. This happens before the xfer even starts. What's the DEal. Seeya -- John -*- 83649 1-DEC 20:34 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83631) From: MITHELEN To: JWILKERSON Most likely you are giving SZ a pathlist, and the pathlist does not reside in the current directory tree, or in the /dd/SPOOL/UUCPPUBLIC dir tree. Does that make sence? This feature is to provoid safegards for BBS systems that use SZ as a file transfer protocal... I think in previous versions of SZ, I had it check the uid, and only restrict users other then the superuser, and just forgot to add that to the new source... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83672 2-DEC 05:20 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83649) From: JWILKERSON To: MITHELEN Well, I tried uploading files to both a BBS and to my Delphi workspace with the same results. I'm afraid I do not fully understand your explanation. -- John -*- 83679 2-DEC 21:22 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83672) From: MITHELEN To: JWILKERSON The files must be either in the current working directory, or a sub-directory of the current working directory... futhermore... you can not referance file names to be sent with "../" or "/dd"... This is a secureit feature provoided mostly for multi-user BBS systems... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83699 3-DEC 03:20 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83679) From: JWILKERSON To: MITHELEN At that time, I belive the files I wanted to send were in A directory called sent. oops. The directory was called /h0/XFERS. I'll play around 'till I find a "safe" directory. -- John -*- 83705 3-DEC 13:30 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83699) From: MITHELEN To: JWILKERSON the simple solution is to make sure you "CHD /h0/XFERS" before you try to run sz. (or, use the internal "change directory" command from the terminal program you are using) -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- 83710 3-DEC 19:39 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83705) From: RANDYKWILSON To: MITHELEN Paul, correct. And as a note to SuperComm users, RZ and SZ will "inherit" what ever you set with SC's -D command as it's current data dir. Randy -*- 83741 4-DEC 05:18 Telecom (6809) RE: SZ problems (Re: Msg 83705) From: JWILKERSON To: MITHELEN (NR) I use SuperComm. I have its default directory set to /h0/xfers, but I wonder if os/9 itself sees that. Typically I do set to that direstory, or my WORK dir. Still, in the cases I tried it, it is possible I was in a different directory; especially since I keep 2 windows up at all times. I'll try again with my dirs set properly.... Thanks. -- John -*- End of Thread. -*- 83632 1-DEC 03:57 Applications (6809) New lha From: JWILKERSON To: ALL I does not work. I go to unpack a file, and it accesses the file, and lists the filenames, but does not unpack the files. I use the standard lha -x type command. The docs are too confusing for me to even attempt the RTFM method of learning about this. It would be nice to see docs for the average joe, rather than those written for engineers and such. Seeya -- John -*- 83642 1-DEC 09:22 Applications (6809) RE: New lha (Re: Msg 83632) From: KENFLANAGAN To: JWILKERSON Did you happen to put XLH in your CMDS directory? That's the part of LHA that does the actual unpacking. -*- 83671 2-DEC 05:17 Applications (6809) RE: New lha (Re: Msg 83642) From: JWILKERSON To: KENFLANAGAN Yes, XLH is there, with attributes set properly. -- John -*- 83696 3-DEC 00:56 Applications (6809) RE: New lha (Re: Msg 83632) From: WOLFDEN To: JWILKERSON Try lha x filename.lzh instead of lha -x filename.lzh... I too am so used to using - in front of command line options.... lha is great! Jim -*- 83700 3-DEC 03:22 Applications (6809) RE: New lha (Re: Msg 83696) From: JWILKERSON To: WOLFDEN (NR) That did it! Works fine. thanks for the tip. Seeya -- John -*- End of Thread. -*- 83662 1-DEC 23:43 Programmers Den .ar structure From: ESCHULMAN To: ALL I am interested in writing a clone of Ar 1.x for DOS or OS/2, preferably the latter or even both. I have some (mostly) C source for Ar. However, I don't C so it's of limited value (though I have figured out UNTC.C). The DOS version is to be written with Power Basic 3.0c, and the OS/2 version to be written with CA-Realizer (which I don't have--yet). Is there any documentation of the structure of a Ar 1.x file and the compression and decompression algorithms? Documentation a little more descriptive than C source.... The final product will not be released to the public until and if I get permission to do so. And if cleared, it will be free. I'd appreciate any help you can offer toward making this project a success. Erich Schulman (KTN4CA) -*- 83673 2-DEC 06:54 General Information Triple rooms at Holiday Inn Elgin? From: TELENUT To: ALL Would anyone know if the Holiday Inn Elgin, the official site of CoCoFEST "Chicago", has triple rooms, that's three single beds? I don't need fest rates really just wheather one room can accomidate three. Thanks Dave -*- 83685 2-DEC 22:39 Programmers Den OSK Print Spooler From: JOELHEGBERG To: ALL How many OS-9/68k users out there use the Microware print spooler supplied in the Programmer's Toolbox? (The Toolbox comes on disk #4 of the IMS distribution diskettes for MM/1 owners... I don't know, but am very curious to find out, if the Programmer's Toolbox comes with other OS-9/68k systems?) I started using it today, and it works great!! My printer buffer is very small, and this is fantastic. I've added support for it in Write-Right! and I am very pleased how it works! With the spooler option active, Write-Right! takes about 3 seconds to format a 7-page document and another second to call the Microware spooler, and then, with the document printing in the background, Write-Right! returns to editing mode. You can print multiple documents, which are held by the print spooler until the printer is available. The print spooler really is a powerhouse! It has options for jobnames, prints job header pages (with those really big ascii character fonts, just like the university computer do), and have options for use with networked OS-9 systems sharing a printer with a number of systems. I'm just surprised I haven't heard of anyone else using it yet, so thought I'd see if anyone had been using it. Man, Write-Right! flies with this feature! I'm happy! :) -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- 83707 3-DEC 19:25 Programmers Den RE: OSK Print Spooler (Re: Msg 83685) From: COLORSYSTEMS To: JOELHEGBERG > How many OS-9/68k users out there use the Microware print spooler > supplied in the Programmer's Toolbox? (The Toolbox comes on disk #4 of > the IMS distribution diskettes for MM/1 owners... I don't know, but am > very curious to find out, if the Programmer's Toolbox comes with other > OS-9/68k systems?) I started using it today, and it works great!! My I used the print spooler for a while when I first got my MM/1. For some strange reason, I was sent two patch cables with connectors for both printer devices, /p and /p1, so I have both devices in my bootlist. Unfortunately, the driver we currently have cannot handle concurrent access to both devices. Starting up a spooler for /p works fine. But when you try to start one for /p1, the whole thing goes crazy, ultimately making spooling unusable. As of right now, I only am using a single printer, but I like having a couple of different kinds out there. Laser for high quality stuff and dot matrix for cheap draft/working copies and program listings. So, no, I am not currently using the print spooler, but yes, I have used it and yes, it does work really neat!!! ------------------------------------ Zack C Sessions ColorSystems "I am Homer of Borg, prepare to be assimi ... OOOOHHH, DOUGHNUTS!" -*- End of Thread. -*- 83698 3-DEC 03:12 General Information 80 Track /d0 From: ISC To: ALL I am having a problem in trying to use a TEAC 55F floppy drive as an 80 track /d0. It works OK as /d1, but when I move the select jumper to /d0 and connect it as such, it gives I/O errors in DECB and continuously seeks if I try an OS9 diskette. It reads both 40 and 80 track floppies fine as /d1. What else am I missing? Thanks in advance. Bill -*- 83731 3-DEC 21:51 General Information RE: 80 Track /d0 (Re: Msg 83698) From: KSCALES To: ISC Hi, Bill - > I am having a problem in trying to use a TEAC 55F floppy drive as an 80 > track /d0. It works OK as /d1, but when I move the select jumper to /d0 > and connect it as such, it gives I/O errors in DECB and continuously > seeks if I try an OS9 diskette. Which drive has your bus termination resistors? Make sure when you move the TEAC to become /d0, that you still have one (only one) drive active on the system that has the termination resistors installed. ... / Ken -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Scales Delphi:KSCALES Internet:kscales@delphi.com CIS:74646,2237 -*- 83737 4-DEC 04:15 General Information RE: 80 Track /d0 (Re: Msg 83731) From: ISC To: KSCALES (NR) Ken, I tried the terminators--no luck. I can't read any OS9 or basic diskette if both of the drives are 80 trackers. Bill -*- End of Thread. -*- 83701 3-DEC 05:06 General Information Review of Kix30 From: BROWN80 To: DSRTFOX I have a Kix30 and I would be glad to write a review of it. Time has been tight for me lately so it would take me 3-4 weeks to do the review justice. If you would like for me to atempt it let me know. Who knows, with the Aggies leaving for the holidays, maybe I'll have more time for such projects. John Brown -*- 83703 3-DEC 07:38 General Information Conect's RS-232 Port From: KENFLANAGAN To: ALL Does anyone know if Conect has released their high speed RS-232 port yet? A friend who is a dealer for USRobotics is letting me try out a 14.4K Sporster FAX/Modem, and I'm seriously thinking of buying it. The only thing is, right now, I can only connect at a max of 4800 (true connect, not serial port). I'm going to check the download areas for anything that will make SACIA work a little better. Thanks. -*- 83708 3-DEC 19:27 General Information RE: Conect's RS-232 Port (Re: Msg 83703) From: RANDYKWILSON To: KENFLANAGAN Ken, CoNect's CoCoIO board has met a few more problems than anticipated, of course. It is being worked on, and hopefully will be out soon. In the mean time, go grab SuperComm v2.2, and it's related files. 2.2 was done specificly to do 9600 reliably. Oh, and if you haven't already, snarf Eddie's Clock edition 9 upload. I found that some clock modules (in my case Disto) ate up so much system time that serial was limited to 4800. Randy -*- End of Thread. -*- 83704 3-DEC 10:36 General Information Basic 09 CHAIN command From: JWILKERSON To: ALL I need to use the basic09 chain statement, however the manual is a bit cryptic. Here is what I wish to do. I want to take a file and replace each letter in the file with a number. This essentially encrypts the file. The program to do this is the CoCopro tools program "fconvert" I will be writing a B09 program that inputs the file name of the file to encrypt. here is what I want it to do Input "file to encode" Call Fconvert to replace "letter" with "letter" in "file to encrypt" go back to b09 to get next letter in sequence, then return to fconvert end program at end of alphabet. Essentially, I want to automativally oops automatically run fconvert 26 times (once for each letter of the alphabet to process the file" The filename must be passed each time, as well as the letter of the alphabet to be converted Syntax: Fconvert (letter to change) (new letter) (file in which to look) B09: CHAIN Fconvert (letter) (new letter) (file) (letter) and (newletter) will be the result of a loop, incrementing each pass. (file) is the result of an input statement at the beginning of the file. I will, of course, need to know also, how to chain back to the b09 file. All in all, an explanation of how to use chain in this manner is all I need. Any suggestions... Thanks -- John -*- 83709 3-DEC 19:37 General Information RE: Basic 09 CHAIN command (Re: Msg 83704) From: RANDYKWILSON To: JWILKERSON John, I have a suggestion. Don't use CHAIN!!!! Chain causes thenew, called, process to totally replace the current one (in this case runb/basic09). RunB will be gone; no way to reenter in the middle of the loop. Instead, use the RUN command. This equates to a F$FORK and then a F$Wait system call. When the called process dies (exits), control will be returned to RunBright where it left off. Something like: dim param_string:STRING ... param_string="prog_name"+" "+old_char+" "+new_char+" "+file_name RUN SHELL(param_string) Note that thiscode fragment is not tested.... :> Randy -*- 83742 4-DEC 05:21 General Information RE: Basic 09 CHAIN command (Re: Msg 83709) From: JWILKERSON To: RANDYKWILSON (NR) Not 10 mins after I posted this, I discovered chain. But, I couldn't figgure out the proper usage. I'll follow your example here and see what I can do. Hopefully, with a little experience with b09 I can write a totally self-contained text file encryption program. Thanks. -- John -*- End of Thread. -*- 83711 3-DEC 20:12 General Information Geni From: CLTUCKER To: JOELHEGBERG Hi Joel. Thks for the tip 7-E-1. I an using a COCO3 with Ultimaterm comm Pgm. There's no provision for this in this pak. Which Comm Package do you use for Geni and Delphi.:-) -*- 83736 4-DEC 01:33 General Information RE: Geni (Re: Msg 83711) From: JOELHEGBERG To: CLTUCKER (NR) > Hi Joel. Thks for the tip 7-E-1. I an using a COCO3 with Ultimaterm > comm Pgm. There's no provision for this in this pak. Which Comm Package > do you use for > Geni and Delphi.:-) Well, I use OSTerm on my MM/1! :) But, for the CoCo under RS-DOS, I use UltimaTerm as well, and you should be able to set the 7-E-1 up on it. I think you just hit ALT-O for options, then 'M' for modem parameters (recalling that from memory, though). -- Joel Mathew Hegberg. Delphi : JOELHEGBERG GEnie : j.hegberg Internet : JoelHegberg@delphi.com -*- End of Thread. -*- 83715 3-DEC 21:01 General Information email signatures From: NIMITZ To: ALL Recently some one posted an E-mail note to me inquiring about a 68340 board. I would like to send this person some information, but I can't. He didn't sign his message with his user name, and I extracted all mail and downloaded it, thus losing his Delphi username. Rick , please repost to me! Thanks David M. GRaham BlackHawk Enterprises, Inc. -*- 83727 3-DEC 21:40 General Information RE: email signatures (Re: Msg 83715) From: MITHELEN To: NIMITZ (NR) David, next time you extract your mail for downloading. do a "EXT File.Ext" instead of "EXT/NOH File.Ext"... This way you won't have to worry about people not signing mail messages... -- Paul Jerkatis - SandV BBS (708)352-0948: Chicago Area OS-9 Users Group UUCP ...{balr|tellab5}!vpnet!sandv.chi.il.us!sysop Internet: MITHELEN@Delphi.com "Did you ever notice how cheep 99% of all BBS users are?" - Unknown -*- End of Thread. -*- 83716 3-DEC 21:07 Telecom (6809) RiBBS/RS232 Pak From: DENNYWRIGHT To: WESGALE (NR) I have a copy of RiBBS v2.10 and a concerted modem pak I built using your docs and 1488 and 1489 driver/reciever chips. The docs to ribbs say to switch pins #6 and #8 on one end of the cable. I did this and set the rconfig file to look for an inverted cable. When I start RiBBS a t the bottom of the wait screen I see: <- 93/12/03 20:00:41 Carrier Detected ATH0 OK Then after a minute it says no response from modem. Then it tries to log in a user, shows the logo screen, then shows the waitmsg saying there's an event scheduled, to plesase call back later and resets. I then get the above message at the wait screen again before it does the whole thing over again. I also cannot execute any of the options at the wait screen I should be able to. How should I mo dify my cable to correct the problem? If I switch the cable back to normal RiBBS works but users can't call in and log on. I can log in in local mode ok though. Can you tell me what wires to swap? Thanks and sorry about the choppines of this message. I'm new at this. -*- 83748 4-DEC 10:39 Games & Graphics shanghai OS-9(Re: Msg 83489) From: PHXKEN To: EARTHER (NR) I have an RS-DOS disk version broken by Bill somebody. Farrell.Kenimer@f26.n114.z1.fidonet.org -*- FORUM>Reply, Add, Read, "?" or Exit>