HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mhughes@comtch.spk.wa.us (Mark Hughes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Backing up the HD -- AGAIN
Keywords: HD,compression, archivers
Date: 4 Oct 92 13:32:58 GMT
Organization: Waffle BBS at CompuTech Spokane, Washington

hack@stsci.edu (Warren Hack) writes:
> In response, I was directed to use TURTLE.  Unfortunately, this is the exact
> program I was referring to in my original post.  After reading the docs to 
> the version I know about (Version 3.20), it will NOT compress contrary to
> the advice, there is no method given for restoring said backed up files 
> onto the HD again, and worst of all, I can not run it to back up onto 
> DS 720k floppies because of shortage of memory for the RAMDISK. 
> 
> If there is a newer version that overcomes these problems, please tell
> me/us about it.  If there are simply undocumented options I do not know
> about, please tell me.  Otherwise, any other suggestions will be greatly 
> appreciated, even if it means purchasing the program.  
 
  Hm.  Diamondback has compression, and doesn't require a RAMdisk, but I 
reccomend against that.  With Turtle, you can restore from your backup 
simply by copying the files up from floppy.  With Diamondback, you have 
to hope that nothing was damaged in any way.  If it was, you're probably 
hosed.
 
  The memory is a problem if you have a 512K machine, but WHY?  RAM is 
cheap, and a LOT of software won't run in that limited space.
 
  I was, at one point, frustrated with Turtle's lack of compression.  
After using Diamondback, and watching it try to compress .LZH files (and 
making them 10% larger each time), I gave THAT up quick.  Turtle has 
problems, but it's better than the others...  (now if I only had a 
floptical drive...)
 
 - Mark Hughes (Caves of Steel 509-624-2078)  mhughes@comtch.spk.wa.us
From: sheppard_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Boot sector
Date: 1 Oct 92 11:17:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: golem.1aemovINNb01
Reply-To: sheppard_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: Wellington City Council (Public Access), Wgtn, Nz
NNTP-Posting-Host: kosmos.wcc.govt.nz

In article <66958@cup.portal.com>, Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes:
Bits removed..
>
>The revised version has the random serial number in it, and works
>just fine...
> 
>BobR


Well Bob the Write protect is used also for disk change, but some disk drives
(Chinnon) don't toggle it when the disk is write enabled, but the later Tos's
have some changes to the OS, to improve the disk change logic,
I do know that TOS 1.4 has and some of the later ones... 


Roger............           sheppard_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
From: kinzel@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de (Jens Kinzel)
Subject: How to setup MiNTlibrary with TurboC (or must I insatall gcc to use MiN
Summary: How to install MiNT libs with Turbo C
Keywords: MiNT, gcc , TurboC
Organization: TU Braunschweig, Informatik, Bueltenweg, Germany
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 17:36:24 GMT

Hi!

I want to use the MiNTlib functions under Turbo C. ('cause I like the
Turbo C debugger). How to compile the files (... must I compile
everything, what about the assembler files, when  I tried to compile
??????.c which includes stdio.h, I got some errormassages ). All in
all it seems, that installing the libs with Turbo C is not possible
(,isn't it?).

						Jens.
From: landrews@outb.wimsey.bc.ca (Luke Andrews)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Text editors... for C even!
Date: 26 Sep 92 16:07:53 PDT
Organization: Wizard Online

> A normal monitor has still 80 col/line! Please switch your WRAP on! Your
> text is ugly to read!

I don't know about you, but my messages look fine to me!  They should all be in 80 columns, and no more (in fact, they should be less!).

If anything, blame it on the system I call to access Usenet, which is an Amiga, running software called C-Net.

Anyway, does anybody else have problems with my messages?   It sounds like your newsreader may be fouling things up for some reason.

--- Via UCI v1.02 (C-Net Amiga)

       Luke Andrews /*/ landrews@outb.wimsey.bc.ca. /*/ Vancouver, BC
=----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
  "We can rise and fall like empires, flow in and out like the tide, be vain
  and smart, humble and dumb, we can hit and miss like pride."
                                                         - Neil Peart
  "Anyway, can a dead person sue for libel?" - "DGHDA" (Douglas Adams)
From: an938@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (George II Lenzer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Can I make a homebrew 68000 clock accelerator?
Date: 30 Sep 1992 22:09:43 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc10.ins.cwru.edu


	Would it be possible (and cheap) to build a crystal based
oscillator running at 25-50 Mhz and interface it to the ST's
internal timer?  I would like to see my ST fly, and I realize
that there are probably limitations, but how big are they?

						Tanks,
						G. II. L.

-- 
"I'll let you in on a little secret.
	The whole universe is totally INSANE!!!!"
						Mr. Natural
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 12:43:51 EDT
From: <SML108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Memory upgrading

Hi, I currently have an EZRAM 512K RAM upgrade in my Atari ST.  I am
running TOS 1.4.  Since the 256K memory chips are scoketed in this
upgrade, does anyone know if the board will support 1MByte chips?
I would like to get Spectre and run it on my ST, but Finder and
System eat a lot of memory, too much memory it would seem for
my lowly 1Mbyte ST...

Scott
PS, how much would a set of 16 chips cost these days?
From: jared@midiline.la.ca.us ('286 Highlander)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Looking for...
Date: Sat, 03 Oct 92 21:16:49 PDT
Distribution: ca
Organization: MIDILine BBS - Altadena, CA - (818) 797-3285

a 68030-based computer designer/engineer.  Would like to start a new 
computer company, but haven't any working capital.  Willing to offer 90% 
profit share from computer sales for completed work (motherboard).  Can 
discuss various options, ideas, etc.

Jared

-----
jared@midiline.la.ca.us ('286 Highlander) 
MIDILine BBS (midiline.la.ca.us) - Altadena CA - (818)797-3285
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
From: dirksen@research.ptt.nl
Subject: Help: PC Harddisk on ST
Organization: PTT Research, The Netherlands
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 14:19:49 GMT

Hello out there,

I've got a 20 Mbyte Harddisk + AT Western Digital Controller.
I would like to connect it to my Atari 1040.

Is there somebody who knows how to do it? Are there drivers for PC-AT Harddisks
available for the Atari ST? Any help is welcome.

Please mail to   M.J.G.Dirksen@research.ptt.nl

Thanks,
MaD
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
From: peter@rhrk.uni-kl.de (Gunter Bitz)
Subject: Re: Can I make a homebrew 68000 clock accelerator?
Organization: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Distribution: eunet
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 11:28:06 GMT

an938@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (George II Lenzer) writes:


>	Would it be possible (and cheap) to build a crystal based
>oscillator running at 25-50 Mhz and interface it to the ST's
>internal timer?  I would like to see my ST fly, and I realize
>that there are probably limitations, but how big are they?

Quite big !!!
You can't change the clock from 8 Mhz to 25 Mhz and think that evrything will
work fine !
First you need a new 68000 which runs on the new frequency (which is a bit 
 more expensive then the standard 8 MHz)
And what is even worse: The rams in your ST (and the MMU) are not fast enough.
So you need a kind of automatic switch, which slows down your 68000 during
read/write access to memory.
All in all it's quite a lot of work to do.... But there are many 'speeder'
cards on the market, most of them with cache memory (runs at 16 Mhz).
So my sugestion: Get out and buy one of them (about $100-$200 I think)
It's too much work to develop it on your own !
cu
  Gunter
From: jhenders@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca (John Henders)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Distribution: world
Organization:  One of these days for sure
X-News: HERMES MMAIL 1.04 Rev. Sep  5 1992
Subject: Re: AES bugs
Date: Sat, 03 Oct 1992 19:23:40 -0700

In <1992Oct3.214532.33496@news.th-darmstadt.de> wallmann@backus.pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Natuerlich!) writes:

>Is there a list of known GEM bugs out and available somewhere ? 
>I could flood this newsgroup if I wanted to, with AES bugs (well
>almost) but I think people might tire of this, especially if the
>information is already available from someplace.

   I've never seen one, but it would be a good project if people wanted to
contribute. I'd even volunteer to coordinate the compilation and editing of
the list. I have collected a few bug workarounds from various sources, and
I'm sure many people would find a canonical list helpful. Are there enough
that a seperate list would be needed for tos, aes and vdi?
   If this project generates enough interest, I'd also like a few volunteers
to help test bugs, or help suggest the best work arounds.
   Any interest?


-- 
       John Henders      jhenders@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca
    I think your "evolutionary scale" needs an adjustment.  Either 
      that, or you've got your thumb on it. -> (lefty@apple.com)
From: rost@rgb.dec.com (My name is Brian Rost)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Upgrading Megafile 20
Date: 2 Oct 92 13:07:19 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


Is it possible to expand a Megafile 20 by simply replacing the 20Mb mechanism
with a larger one and reformatting?

					Brian Rost @rgb.enet.dec.com

					508-568-6115

	****************************************************
	*						   *
	*  The above does not reflect the opinions of	   *
	*  my employer.					   *
	*						   *
	*  If music is outlawed, only outlaws will be      *	   
	*  musicians.					   *
	*						   *
	****************************************************
From: osoelgaultier+@CMU.EDU (Stefan Monnier)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Upgrading Megafile 20
Date: 4 Oct 92 12:46:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.cenpUPi00VpG4r6VpW
Organization: Junior, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.comp.sys.atari.st.tech: 2-Oct-92 Upgrading
Megafile 20 My name is B. Rost@rgb.d (477)


> Is it possible to expand a Megafile 20 by simply replacing the 20Mb mechanism
> with a larger one and reformatting?

> 					Brian Rost @rgb.enet.dec.com

> 					508-568-6115

> 	****************************************************
> 	*						   *
> 	*  The above does not reflect the opinions of	   *
> 	*  my employer.					   *
> 	*						   *
> 	*  If music is outlawed, only outlaws will be      *	   
> 	*  musicians.					   *
> 	*						   *
> 	****************************************************


Yes !!

Atari harddisks are generally decomposed like this:

ACSI to SCSI adapter (also known as host adapter)
SCSI to MFM (or RLL) adapter (also known as controller)
Hard disk (MFM or RLL)

As your harddisk is 20MB, it is MFM (the 30M is RLL)

The 2 different adapters are separated in (very) old drives but
not with 'new' ones.

So if you have 2 PCBs in your megafile, you have access to the 
SCSI interface.

You can either buy an MFM drive and put it in place of your old
(but big MFMs are rare today), or add it as a second drive (you
have 3 connectors and 2 of them are connected to the 
harddrive, the 3rd is unconnected (and resembles one of the 2 others
quite a lot): the unconnected is used for data transfer, the connected but
different is used for control and is shared by the 2 drives).

The last and best solution is only possible if you have access to the
SCSI bus:
You get rid of the second PCB (the controller) and your HD, and
you plug a brand new big and fast SCSI drive in the suddenly unconnected
connector (which sould be something like 2x25=50 pins I believe)

	Stefan

PS: nothing is sure of I just said !

-----------------------------------------------------
-- On the average, people seem to be acting normal --
-----------------------------------------------------
From: Conan.Ford@debug.cuc.ab.ca (Conan Ford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Floppy Disk Fats ..... In the beginning......
Date: 4 Oct 92 21:01:44 GMT
Reply-To: Conan.Ford@debug.cuc.ab.ca (Conan Ford)
Followup-To: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Organization: The Magic BBS (Debug Computer Services)

In article <1amcf9INNduv@golem.wcc.govt.nz> sheppard_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
writes:
>In article <1731@eagle.ukc.ac.uk>, wabe@ukc.ac.uk (W.A.B.Evans) writes:
>>       Why was it decreed in the beginning that TOS should use FIVE
>>(512-byte) sectors to store its (12-bit) FAT Info.??
[stuff deleted]
>Well you did, you should have know that Atari is a dumb company..!!.
>They have also left it in the newer Tos's as they now think that its a
feature,
>yes a feature to show the world how dumb Atari is...
 
Just so you know five sectors per track was actually a good idea.  What
difference does 1024 bytes less per disk make?  One more thing-a FAT for a
850KB disk (85 tracks x 10 spt) needs more than a 3 sector FAT.
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|Email: Conan.Ford@Debug.cuc.ab.ca        |.     .    |      .|   |||   |
|Fidonet/Metronet: Conan Ford at 1:134/9, |   .   . --*--  .  |   |||   |
|                  1:134/21,201:5500/9    |.    .     |   . . | _/ | \_ |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: swenker@ptt-iat (Swenker Johan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re types of diskdrives (was Re: IDE Drives on ST)
Keywords: Hard Disk
Date: 28 Sep 92 17:05:43 GMT
Organization: PTT Telecom I&AT Groningen

In article <lahtinen.717681893@gideon> lahtinen@gideon.fmi.fi (Kimmo Lahtinen) writes:
>
>I do not know any controllers that convert SCSI to IDE and I think it
>would be much better for you to look for a SCSI drive. I think you should
>find a 80-100 MB SCSI drive for $200-300, but I not know the prices there.
>
>--
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Kimmo Lahtinen                      E-Mail : lahtinen@gideon.fmi.fi       
>Finnish Meteorological Institute    Phone  : +358 0 758 1322
>Possessed by a Spirit               G3 Fax : +358 0 758 1396

I'm looking around for a new Hard Disk. All I see is terms like 
SCSI, ACSD, IDE, ICD. Unfortunately all without explanation. So
if someone could explain these terms to me, please do.

BTW I have a Mega ST2 with a Megafile 20.

Thanks, Johan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Johan Swenker			| Telephone: +31 50 855257
PTT Telecom BV			| Telefax  : +31 50 271894
I&AT				| E-mail   : swenker%ptt-iat@nluug.nl
P.O. Box 188			| DISCLAIMER: This statement is not an official
NL-9700 AD Groningen		| statement from, nor does it represent an
The Netherlands			| official position of, PTT Telecom B.V.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: svleest@handel.crhc.uiuc.edu (Steve VanderLeest)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Printer drivers
Keywords: printer driver programming
Date: 29 Sep 92 20:38:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: roundup.1aaes7INNnbf
Distribution: world
Organization: Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NNTP-Posting-Host: handel.crhc.uiuc.edu

Can anyone give me a brief overview of how to write a printer driver, or
point me to a source of info on this topic?  I can dump the screen image to
my particular printer (converting the screen bit image to something my
printer understands), but I assume there is a better way to do it.  My method
is limited to what is displayed on the screen.  I would like to be able
to do vdi routines to some buffer area and then dump this to the
printer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

--
Steve VanderLeest	Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing
			University of Illinois
................................................................................
"...post this, post that.  Everything is post these days, as if we're all just 
a footnote to something earlier that was real enough to have a name of its own."
  _Cat's Eye_
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
From: hjv@phil.ruu.nl (Hendrik Jan Veenstra)
Subject: Re: Boot sector
Organization: Department of Philosophy, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 00:57:45 GMT

[ concerning the serial number on the bootsector ]

As far as I know, the serial number is used to signal a disk swap.
If two disks have the same serial, the OS can't know you've changed disks.

[concerning the XBIOS 0x18 ]

I suppose you mean XBIOS 18 / XBIOS 0x12 ? XBIOS 0x18 (0x18 = 24) is
'Bioskeys'...


--
Hendrik Jan Veenstra                            hjv@phil.ruu.nl
Department of Philosophy              -------------------------------------
University of Utrecht                     All opinions expressed above
The Netherlands                               are pure coincidence
From: okes@essex.ac.uk (Oke S)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Fwd: Replacing the floppy on a 1040st
Date: 6 Oct 92 16:29:45 GMT
	<Ueo9XjK00awV4_zGlh@andrew.cmu.edu>
	<9210060310.AA18559@biome.bio.ns.ca>
	<seoFOU_00awE4_g0k0@andrew.cmu.edu>
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Essex, UK.
In-reply-to: osoelgaultier+@CMU.EDU's message of 5 Oct 92 20:31:28 GMT

In article <seoFOU_00awE4_g0k0@andrew.cmu.edu> osoelgaultier+@CMU.EDU (Stefan Monnier) writes:
| Some MS-DOS drives are upside down at the connector interface. Quite
| often the ST floppy cable is too bloddy short to turn it upside down.
| It's a pain twisting it upside down.

I had this problem. I went to an electronics shop, told them the trouble, and
they sold me the parts to make an extendor for the cable. Cost: about 3 pounds.

--
This signature is copyright 12/6/1992 Simon Oke. All rights reserved. If you
like it and keep a copy for your own use, you owe me $20. Please pass it on
to your friends with all documentation.              Email okes@essex.ac.uk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 In the beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people very
	angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech,comp.sys.atari.st
From: hack@stsci.edu (Warren Hack)
Subject: Backing up the HD -- AGAIN
Followup-To: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Keywords: HD,compression, archivers
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 19:58:21 GMT


In my previous posting, I had requested some advice on the best utility to
use in backing up my HD.  My problems arise from not being able to find
a program that will compress the files while backing them up or being able
to restore the files once backed up.  

In response, I was directed to use TURTLE.  Unfortunately, this is the exact
program I was referring to in my original post.  After reading the docs to 
the version I know about (Version 3.20), it will NOT compress contrary to
the advice, there is no method given for restoring said backed up files 
onto the HD again, and worst of all, I can not run it to back up onto 
DS 720k floppies because of shortage of memory for the RAMDISK. 

If there is a newer version that overcomes these problems, please tell
me/us about it.  If there are simply undocumented options I do not know
about, please tell me.  Otherwise, any other suggestions will be greatly 
appreciated, even if it means purchasing the program.  

Please accept my apologies in advance if I have offended anyone with my
remarks about TURTLE.  There just has to be something available that will
do what I need, and it just wasn't it.

Warren Hack
hack@stsci.edu
From: eker@loria.fr (Steven Eker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Line A: C lib?/ bitmap manipulation on the ST..?
Date: 5 Oct 92 08:42:32 GMT
Organization: CRIN (CNRS) Nancy - INRIA Lorraine

In article <Bv49xE.1s9@iat.holonet.net>, wilsont@orac.holonet.net (Timothy Wilson) writes:
|> Yes.. more questions for the tech guys..
|> 
|> I was wondering if there are PD C library files for the Line A routines?
|> or.. should I bite the bullet and learn ASM?

Line A is a dead end. If you really need realtime graphics (for games/demos etc)
learn asm. Otherwise stick with vdi.
  
|> 
|> also, I just found out, in my TOS book, that one pixel in lowres is
|> spread out over 4 bytes. I have heard of this before in other architectures.
|> but.. Why do they do this? Isn't it slower to do it this way?

Depends on the graphics operation. Having the bit planes separate means
you can use the same bit patterns in all resolutions - just copy them into more
planes - thus displaying text for eg is faster.
The downside is writing to individual pixels (as opposed to blocks of
pixels) is slower.

|> 
|> I'd like to be able to manipulate bitmaps (rotations etc) but 
|> since the pixel info is spread out, how to I convert these types of algorithms?
|>

Just apply the algorithms to one bitmap at a time. Of course if you want
to do operations that work on the whole value of a pixel (shading/
antialiasing/texture mapping) this fails.
 
|> i would assume that to get one pixel out of a graphics screen long word
|> would take 32 shifts and 4 long word masks. Am I underestimating the speed
|> of the 68000? it would seem that it would take a while (time that would add up
|> over a large bitmap) to compute.

Yes but if you're dealing with a large bitmap you can extract pixels in left
to right order _much_ more quickly.
I posted some code to do this a while ago - the trick is to use alternating
add.w & addx.w instructions for 1uS/pixel/plane + screen accesses +
looping overhead (which can be eliminated with linear code).
*
*	planes 0 to 3 in registers d0 to d3
*
	add.w	d0,d0
	addx.w	d4,d4
	add.w	d1,d1
	addx.w	d4,d4
	add.w	d2,d2
	addx.w	d4,d4
	add.w	d3,d3
	addx.w	d4,d4
*
*	d4 now contains 4bit value of leftmost pixel and planes have all
*	been left shifted so that next time this code is run the 2nd pixel
*	from the left will be extracted.

Steven
From: johnj@echo.philips.nl (John Janssen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Boot sector
Date: 2 Oct 92 09:34:02 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, E.C.H.O. development department

max@randell.cba.csuohio.edu (Max Polk) writes:
>Regarding the boot sector serial number, bytes 8-10 using a scheme of
>numbering from 0-511:

>I don't believe that the serial number is meaningful.  From my tests of
>simply zeroing the serial number on a couple of disks and displaying,
>deleting, and copying files and subdirectories, all the while changing
>from one disk to the other (with the same serial number), I definitely
>COULD NOT obtain any errors.

The above is true from TOS 1.4 on!

Older TOS versions will not reread the FAT if the new floppy inserted
contains the same serial number. So be careful!

John
-- 
John Janssen         Email: johnj@echo.philips.nl      <-- may stop soon(?)
The Netherlands      or:    John.Janssen@atehv.bso.nl  <-- back in Nov. 92
Work: +31 40 756425 
Home: +31 77 513177  Atari Mega STE, PC 386 SX, MIDI, C
From: gs32+@andrew.cmu.edu (Geoffrey Spear)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: How to query RS-232 configuration?
Date: 3 Oct 92 22:19:07 GMT
Organization: Freshman, CIT general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Use Rsconf(), but put %'s before the pararameters you want to read in.
-----------------------------------
Geoff Spear
Freshman, ECE, Carnegie-Mellon University
-----------------------------------
The following sentence is false.
The preceding sentence is true.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech