HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vhs@rhein-main.de (Volker Herminghaus-Shirai)
Subject: Re: Need to view sectors on floppy disk
Reply-To: vhs@rhein-main.de
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:56:17 GMT

In article <1992Nov4.171057.13733@tds.com> hoskins@tds.com (Lianne Hoskins)  
writes:
> 
> For security reasons we need to be able to view all of the contents on a  
> NeXT formatted floppy disk.
> 
> Essentially we want to go sector by sector and be able to view the data in  
> hex and/or ascii form.  This is similar to what you might see in Norton or  
> PCTools packages for a PC.
> 
> Does such an App exist?  Is there a fairly easy way to do this from the  
> command line?

From the command line, try
	od -c </dev/rfd0a
to view as ascii, or
	od -x </dev/rfd0a
to view as hex, or
	od -s[n] </dev/rfd0a
to view only null-terminated strings with at least n charactes.

Since I don't have a floppy drive I don't know 100% if /dev/rfd0a is
the right device, but I'm pretty sure.

The whole thing might be faster if you read with dd instead, thus
	dd if=/dev/rfd0a bs=18K of=- | od -c
etc.

--
Volker Herminghaus-Shirai (vhs@rhein-main.de)

Computer industry: Industry in which the number of units sold of any
given product is inversely proportional to its technical excellence.
See also: MS-DOS, Windows, IBM-PC, X, QWERTY,
          80x86, TrueType, Survival of the shittest.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: uunet!lkba!lkb (Larry Blische)
Subject: Re: New RISC workstations / 88110 demise
Reply-To: uunet!lkba!lkb
Organization: LKB Associates, Inc.
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 14:53:15 GMT

In article <Nov.6.01.43.06.1992.5328@gandalf.rutgers.edu>  
szatrows@gandalf.rutgers.edu (John Kheit) writes:
> Why stop at just 4 CPU's?  Have a bus that can handle cards that would
> allow N CPU's?  Only 2 3.5" drives!!  Way too little space, I would
> prefer room for 6 5.25" full height devices and maybe 2 3.5" devices.

It's supposed to be a BRICK, not a BRICK WALL! :-)
-- 
Larry Blische
410 285 2262
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: lemson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (David Lemson)
Subject: Re: New SPARC Classic
Keywords: sun, classic, sparc
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 23:57:07 GMT

ice@socrates.umd.edu (Fredrik Nyman) writes:

>songer@lexmark.com (Christopher Songer) writes:

>>Are you sure about this one? What kind of SPARC do they have in
>>there to give twice the performance? I agree with half the price,
>>but I'm not so sure about the twice the performance part. The 
>>name "classic" appeneded on the end make me think of the onld
>>Sparc 1's which are quite a bit slower than the turboes.
>It uses a Tsunami SPARC chip at 50 MHz.  CPU performance is virtually
>equivalent to the SPARCStation 2, so yes, I stand by my above assertion
>that the SSC will have roughly twice the CPU performance of NSTC for
>roughly half the price. :-(

Ok, time to get out those numbers... Anyone have those benchmarks
that were posted last summer that showed that in raw math
capability, the Sparc 2+ was at most 20% faster than a NeXTStation
Turbo...

-- 
David Lemson                                                (217) 244-1205
University of Illinois NeXT Campus Consultant / CCSO NeXT Lab System Admin
Internet : lemson@uiuc.edu                UUCP :...!uiucuxc!uiucux1!lemson 
NeXTMail accepted                                  BITNET : LEMSON@UIUCVMD
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: abell@netcom.com (Steven T. Abell)
Subject: Re: Byte Swapping (Was: New RISC workstations)
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 20:27:12 GMT

jjfeiler@relief.com (John Jay Feiler) writes:

> In article <1992Nov2.195519.612@netcom.com> abell@netcom.com (Steven T.  
> Abell) writes:
> > eboltz@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Eric Scott Boltz) writes:
> > 
> > > As far as Intel CPUs go, aren't they the ones that expect multiple-byte
> > > data to have bytes swaped? - Yuck.
> > 
> > As far as I'm aware, nobody has *ever* made a machine that got  
> > byte-ordering right in combination with several other crucial factors.
> > This has had an unpleasant effect on sofware quality.
> > [munch]
> > 
> > The design I suggest is very different from what we're used to,
> > but it works just as well in the machine, and better in our heads when
> > we're writing programs. That translates into fewer bugs.
> > 
> > 0) All memory diagrams are written sideways,
> >    with the most-significant bit, byte, word, whatever, on the left.
> > 
> > 1) The base address of a string, struct, array is its *end*,
> >    not its beginning.

> Unfortunately, many string operations (formatting strings, strcat, etc) will  
> grow the length of the string, and we than have to copy the entire string to  
> a buffer, operate on it, then put it back with its end in the right place.    
> Sigh......

Partly true. The left-to-right-is-high-to-low-always scheme invalidates
some C-think. With a system and a language designed as I suggest, the
mechanics of string processing will have to be different, but not much,
and it will usually be more efficient. The only real implication of this
design for the specific problem John describes is that string pointers are
less constant. Algorithms that really require buffered copies in my scheme
will also require copies in a standard C program.

To digress a little, one of the most frequent complaints I hear about C is
its string-handling (in)ability. I hate to even mention the word, but BASIC,
for all its wretchedness, is still the weapon of choice among traditional
languages for string manipulation. There are fairly simple ways of putting
that kind of functionality into a C-like language, and for that, the
left-to-right-etc. design is ideal.

C is twenty years old. Maybe it's time to take what we've learned and move on.

Steve abell@netcom.com
From: scotty@gagetalker.com (Scott Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: New(ADB)Turbo w/ Old Starting Point?
Date: 5 Nov 92 11:18:26 GMT
Organization: L5 Computing

In article <1992Nov3.143746.8244@mattcube> matt%mattcube@mcnc.org (Matthew M.  
Stecker) writes:
|> 
|> It's too long a story to get into the details, but suffice it to say that
|> I have a client who would like to be able to purchase a new Turbo Slab
|> (mono, ADB equipped) and attach it to an older (vintage first slabs)  
MegaPixel, 
|> Keyboard and Mouse.  
|> 
|> My sense is that this would work - something about an ADB sense pin.
My Turbo Color switches back and forth twixt ADB and non-ADB quite happily.
Everything I've dug up on ADB says this will be the case for mono machines
as well.

The delay in introducing mono ADB seems to be over convincing the mono
monitor to do 72Hz.

|> I have grown greatly accustomed to the original NeXT keyboard and mouse and  
|> would like to continue using them with newer equipment.  I gather from  
reading
|> the net lately that I'm supposed to be suffering from some terrible health
|> ailments as a result of this preference, but after 4-5 hours of use
|> each and every day for the past three years, everything seems to be holding
|> up just fine.  In fact, whenever forced to use a keyboard on any other 
|> machine (and I work with quite a few), I am always left bugged by how
|> 'cheap' other keyboards feel.  
How you use the equipment can be more important than the equipment. I've got
e-mail here from people suffering effects that _might_ be laid at the feet
of their NeXT non-ADB keyboards. I personally have felt pain at the end of
the day, I lay the blame for it at the feet of the command key, I use short
cuts alot and I've had a few bad days with my command key finger. The non-ADB
mouse drives me nuts. I can't use it for more than an hour. My new ADB mouse
got about 15 minutes of use so I'll leave commentary on it to others (I leapt
into ADB trackballs with both feet.)

And while you state you use your NeXT 4-5 hours a day, I use mine 12 to 24
hours per work day. When you use a computer this heavily you can get tired. :)
And I'm finding that the layout of the ADB keyboard leads to fewer typing
errors in the wee hours. Plus the feel is much easier on the fingers. Simson
commented on this in the Winter 1992 NeXTWorld and I have to agree with him
on this point, it just _feels_ better to me. And my finger's don't slip as
much due to the different coating on the keys.

I find using the non-ADB keyboard on my mono slab uncomfortable now. Which of
course just makes me desire an ADB upgrade for it all the more. :)

Come on NeXT! Sell me an ADB upgrade for my mono slab! The more I use this
lovely keyboard the more I want one for my old machine.

Scotty
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: abell@netcom.com (Steven T. Abell)
Subject: Re: New RISC workstations / 88110 demise
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 00:23:48 GMT

ttn@cs.tut.fi (Tero Nieminen) writes:
> In article <1992Nov6.205045.26293@netcom.com>
> abell@netcom.com (Steven T. Abell) writes:

>   Unfortunately, you can't just brush off an obnoxious architecture by saying
>   "The compiler people will worry about this." Let's stay real, folks.
>   Underlying models matter, and the Intel model is about as bad as they come.
>   If this is what we have to live with, I suppose we'll manage somehow,
>   but if you think it doesn't affect you, you're wrong.

> Actually what do you mean by the intel model? And how is it inferior to
> Motorola 68k architecture?

> Not by speed anyway.

The Intel CPU programming model involves 12+ registers, no two of which have
the same capability. Of the 12+, 6+ are special-purpose to the point of
being useless as programming assets. Using the remaining 6 involves strategic
and tactical planning that will break your mind if you're trying to be
efficient. Declaring register variables in a C program becomes largely a
waste of time. A *very* large number of machine instructions are devoted
to picking up and putting down locals. The superior speed of Intel CPUs
is *not* an indicator of a superior CPU, just an indicator of better silicon
technology and greater design capacity.

Don't get me wrong: the 68K model has its own significant problems, but
outright wretchedness isn't one of them. Try writing some large procedures in
68K assembler, then do the same for an i86. Now, look at what you did from a
compiler-writer's point of view. Do you even want to *think* about codifying
your thoughts during your i86 efforts?

The Intel programming model is literally a bastard outgrowth of the 8080 model,
which was designed back when getting any kind of CPU at all on one chip was
still a miracle. If IBM hadn't chosen the 8088 for the original PC because
Motorola was late (as usual) with the 68008, the currently-touted Intel CPUs
*simply wouldn't exist* today, largely because they are too damned hard to
program.

Steve abell@netcom.com
From: rcbaab@rwa.urc.tue.nl (Annard Brouwer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: CH products trackball
Keywords: trackball, next
Date: 5 Nov 92 16:22:18 GMT
Reply-To: rcbaab@urc.tue.nl

Hello!

I would like to connect a Kensington Mac (Plus) trackball to my
(non-ADB) NeXTstation, does anybody have some pointers about the
pinouts of the mouse of NeXT or has anyone made some cicuitry already
for connecting it?  Thanks in advance!

Annard
___
| Annard Brouwer                        Bitnet   : rcgbbaab@heitue51
| small-sized NeXT mail appreciated!    Internet : rcbaab@urc.tue.nl

-- 
| Annard Brouwer                        Bitnet             : rcgbbaab@heitue51
| small-sized NeXT mail appreciated!    Internet           : rcbaab@urc.tue.nl
From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.com (Conrad Geiger - Manager, International NeXT User Groups)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: Telebit's phone number
Date: 6 Nov 92 19:59:50 GMT
Reply-To: user_groups@next.com

Telebit can be reached at ...

1-800-TELEBIT or (408)734-4333

conrad geiger
International NeXT User Groups

_________________________________________________
Article 2561 (21 more) in comp.sys.next.hardware:
From: samurai@cs.mcgill.ca (Darcy BROCKBANK)
Subject: Telebit
Date: 5 Nov 92 20:50:07 GMT
Organization: SOCS - Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada

Does someone have a phone number for Telebit?

Thanks,

- db
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: sherwood@space.ualberta.ca (Sherwood Botsford)
Subject: Fragmentation & performance
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:35:51 GMT

John Kheit writes
> The only thing that is a bummer, and its got nothing to do with the
> drive... is that when you have a drive that big a you move tons of
> files around the drive starts to get slow because of fragmentation.
> The kind o fragmentation that just wont go away unless you completly
> rebuild your drive.  I did a rebuild (build disk) and 3.0 now appears
> to run about 50% faster!  I wish that their was somekind of
> defragmentation software.
> 

Fragmentation doesn't mean the same thing on a Unix file system as it  
does on a Dos file system.  

However, if large files are scattered out over the disk, you're right,  
the access goes to hell.  I think that the usual reason for this is the  
swap file getting split.  If you read through the builddisk script, it  
appears that the writer was very concerned about putting the swapfile  
near the shared libraries.  If you ever have to delete the swap file,  
it will be recreated in a different place.  If you ever have to extend  
it, the extension will be in a different place.

Try this:  Keep track of the largest your swapfile grows during the  
course of normal events.  Rebuild your disk, but set it up with that  
size as lowwater, and create that size to begin with.  See if  
performance is better.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: gad@eclipse.its.rpi.edu (Garance A. Drosehn)
Subject: Re: New SPARC Classic
Followup-To: comp.sys.next.advocacy
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 00:41:06 GMT


isbell@cats.ucsc.edu (Art Isbell) writes:
> Monty Solomon <roscom!monty@think.com> writes:
> >	SMCC INTRODUCES COLOR RISC WORKSTATION PRICED LESS THAN A PC
> [ details deleted ]
> 
> My own sense in all this is that a company NeXT's size cannot possibly
> compete in all arenas of workstation production with companies 1 or 2
> orders of magnitude greater in size (like Sun, IBM, DEC, HP, etc.).

  and

> So I hope that NeXT is spending its limited resources on porting
> NeXTSTEP to as many hardware architectures as possible rather than 
> on trying to decide what CPU to go with for the future, a decision
> fraught with pitfalls when one considers the choices and politics
> of each choice.

Sun was also many orders of magnitude larger than NeXT when NeXT released  
the NeXTstations.  Here it's a year or two later and Sun is just now  
catching the price/performance of the box that NeXT released that long ago.   
I don't think we should assume that NeXT *cannot* compete in hardware, when  
history has shown that they do a pretty reasonable job of competing there.

(though I should stress that I very much agree that it's about time for NeXT  
to think about repricing their hardware, and I also agree that I'd like to  
see NeXTSTEP ready for more hardware platforms)

Followups to csn.advocacy, where this kind of debate belongs.

--
Garance Alistair Drosehn     =     gad@eclipse.its.rpi.edu
ITS Systems Programmer            (handles NeXT-type mail)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;           Troy NY    USA
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware,comp.sys.next.misc,comp.sys.next
From: atai@nyx.cs.du.edu (Andy Tai)
Subject: info needed on /usr/adm/messages
Keywords: how this file is generated?
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 02:47:18 GMT


Hello,
I need information on the system log file /usr/adm/messages.  I need
information on what processes write to this file, what kinds of errors can
be listed in there, etc.  Any information about where I can find more info
about the log file (manuals, tech docs from Next, etc) is appreciated.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware,comp.sys.next.misc
From: ttn@cs.tut.fi (Tero Nieminen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: New RISC workstations / 88110 demise
Date: 7 Nov 92 12:15:43
Organization: Tampere Univ. of Technology, Finland.
Distribution: world
	<1992Nov5.070604.2071@cubetech.com> <BxBCpM.65B.2@cs.cmu.edu>
	<ceynlZy00WAy810IZ5@andrew.cmu.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: kivikkorastas.cs.tut.fi
In-reply-to: cs4w+@andrew.cmu.edu's message of 6 Nov 92 17:47:49 GMT

In article <ceynlZy00WAy810IZ5@andrew.cmu.edu> cs4w+@andrew.cmu.edu (Charles William Swiger) writes:

   "Unix emulation task"?  What are you referring to?  The Mach kernel does
   handle system traps (the functions described in "man 2 intro") for
   processes, exactly like any other kernel, and I don't see this changing
   under Mach 3.x.

Mach 3 is a true micro kernel, unlike the Mach 2 that is a traditional
monolithic kernel.

   Mach provides these functions because a standard unix
   kernel provides these functions; programs written for another unix
   machine work on the NeXT without modification because the Mach kernel
   provides the exactly same functionality.  This compatibility is one of
   the most important features of Mach.

Mach kernel is not actually designed to implement any particular OS. It
just happens that most often a BSD emulator in run on top of it. And it
is that emulator that provides the Unix features.
-- 
         Tero Nieminen                      DANGER!
         ttn@cs.tut.fi                   Computer Bytes!
From: andy@cs.caltech.edu (Andy Fyfe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: New RISC workstations (MIPS R4400)
Date: 10 Nov 1992 07:17:00 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
NNTP-Posting-Host: kodiak.cs.caltech.edu
Keywords: RISC

In article <1992Nov10.031446.24527@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> halpin@vsg1.dsg.dec.com (Stephen E. Halpin) writes:
>In article <1992Nov8.015101.11828@cs.su.oz.au> jimu@orthanc.xa.au.oz.au (James Uther) writes:
>>I read recently that someone has produced a R4400 clone, so going with the 
>>R4400 would be as good as going with sparc (except of course that the R4400
>>is a better chip). Multi-vendor, RISC, etc.
>>Anyone know anything more?
>
>MIPS stuff is also made by Integrated Device Technology Inc., LSI Logic Corp.,
>NEC Electronics Corp., Performance Semiconductor Corp., Siemens Components Inc.,
>and Toshiba Corp (this from the MIPS press announcement.)

NEC has recently announced the VR4400, running at 75MHz (compatible with
the MIPS R4000).

The price is currently 400,000 yen ($3,300), and is expected to drop
to 200,000 yen ($1,650) next April, when the chip becomes available in
quantity.

Speed is not going to be cheap, at least not for a while.

Andy Fyfe					andy@cs.caltech.edu
From: schell@nomad.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Stephan Schell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: NeXTprinter toner question not in FAQ?
Date: 11 Nov 92 14:06:34 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: University of California at Davis

I'm surprised not to find this question in the FAQ, so here goes.
Which type of HP Laserjet toner cartridge is the right one for use
in a NeXTprinter?  Choices listed in the Inmac catalog are:
1. Laserjet II, IID, III, IIID
2. Laserjet IIP, IIIP Plus, IIIP
3. Laserjet, Laserjet Plus, Laserjet 500 Plus
4. Laserjet IIISi
5. Laserjet 2000

Thanks in advance,
Steve
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Stephan V. Schell                   schell@eecs.ucdavis.edu
121 Electrical Engineering East
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802               (814) 863-8102
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: robinc@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Robert Delucca)
Subject: Screen real estate
Keywords: screen video Megapixel
Organization: HAC - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 02:24:06 GMT



I have a Turbo mono slab w/ megapixel display. This must have been
discussed before, though I missed everything. 

There is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of unused monitor on the top, bottom
and sides. Why? I know there is Macintosh shareware to increase 
monitor image. And Next? The wasted real estate bothers me. And I use
virtspace. 

Thanks 

Robert de Lucca
Johns Hopkins University
rdelucca@rosemary.uucp.jhu.edu
From: jtod_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (John "Jeep" Todd)
Subject: Your only 1+Gig drive possiblities...
Summary: Info and summary about 1+Gig drives for NeXTStations
Keywords: Gigabyte,NeXT,Frobozz
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 17:19:03 GMT

I've been looking for a 1 Gig or larger drive for my NeXTStation.  Thus, it
must be: SCSI,3.5,HH,and over 1 Gig.  To narrow my search, I went to
clari.streetprice and searched for the necessary parameters.  This is what I
got as of 11/6:

3 uhura> grep 1...MB streetprice|grep SCSI|grep HH
H-P C2247      ;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;SCSI-2 ;2089;SoundElectroFlight 
Hewlett-Packard;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;2290;Direct Drives     
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1719;East Coast Electrncs
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1765;S.A.G. Electronics 
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1899;DC Drives         
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1899;MegaHaus           
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;AT kit ;1949;DC Drives          
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;AT kit ;1949;MegaHaus           
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;XT kit ;1949;MegaHaus          
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1969;SoundElectroFlight 
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;1999;HDSS               
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;EISA   ;2049;DC Drives          
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;2196;Storage Devices Inc
Micropolis 2112;1050MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;10ms;       ;2472;Direct Drives      
Seagate        ;1200MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;    ;SCSI-2 ;1999;HDSS               
Toshiba MK538FB;1200MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;12ms;       ;1550;East Coast Electrncs
Toshiba MK538FB;1200MB;SCSI;3.5 ;HH;12ms;       ;1550;S.A.G. Electronics 

Now, these are only internal drives, which is what I want since I don't want
an extra box to lug around whenever I move, and since I don't have a drive
in my Station at the moment, I've got a free bay to put it in.  (Don't ask,
it's a long story)
MY POINT: Is the Micropolis a good drive?  Has anybody in NeXTLand had any
experience with it as an internal drive?  Heat problems?  Media problems?  I
hate Seagate, and I haven't heard anything about the Toshiba, but I am open
to suggestions if you have.  It basically boils down to the Micropolis or
the Toshiba due to price.  Which to choose?

Thanks in advance.

-- 
John Todd         | University of Rochester, Rochester NY USA Earth Milky Way
CPU 276686        | "...where the skies are not cloudy all day!"
Rochester NY 14627| Jeeps Fixed, Technology Hacked, Lawns Mowed, Maidens Saved
jtod@alora.cc.rochester.edu (NeXT mail)        jtod_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu