HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hardy@golem.ps.uci.edu (Meinhard E. Mayer (Hardy))
Subject: NeXT CDRom query
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Organization: Department of Physics, UC Irvine, CA 92717-4575, USA
Distribution: comp
Date: 13 Aug 92 00:15:33 GMT

I was away from newsreading when the NeXT CDRom was announced, so this
may have been covered.  I was just curious whether in release 3.0 of
NS the documentation, literature, and other less-often neede
directories can be read from the CDRom directly? This could free up a
substantial amount of disk-space, and would be an extra incentive to
buy the bundle rather than just the 3.0 license. 
--
Hardy 
-----
Meinhard E. Mayer,  Department of Physics, UC Irvine 
e-mail: hardy@golem.ps.uci.edu (preferred) or MMAYER@UCI.BITNET
From: jk8l+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan W. Kimball)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: boot from CD-ROM?
Date: 19 Aug 92 12:56:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.keYfK8_00VpOMgfEV=
Organization: Freshman, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Perhaps this has already been answered, but is it possible to boot from
CD-ROM under 3.0?  I've heard a little bit both ways.  When I went to
the computer store here (where I would buy the CD-ROM), they said to ask
someone from NeXT.  Anyway, I'm considering that as an option to a
bigger hard drive--leave all the system stuff on CD, and use the
internal hard drive as swap and local storage.  Can it be done?
Thanks.

Jon Kimball
kimball+@cmu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: serge@dadofsam (Serge J. Goldstein)
Subject: maxstor drive failing
Originator: news@nimaster
Keywords: disk error maxstor bad blocks
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 13:03:26 GMT


I have a NeXT (Maxtor) 660 MB drive that has given up the ghost as a result of  
a couple power hits while I was away on vacation. Here are the symptoms:

When I try to boot off the drive, I get the following as part of the boot  
sequence:

READ CAPACITY: sdcmd bad state:0
dev blk len?

I was able to boot off the OD, and get the following:

SCSI 53C90A Controller, Target 7, as sc0 at 0x2114000
MAXTOR  XT-8760S as sd0 at sc0 target 0 lun 0
sd0 (0,0): ERROR op:0x25 sd_state:7 scsi status:0x0
ERROR: Can't read device capacity
ERROR op:0x1a sd_state:7 scsi status:0x0
DISK UNFORMATTED
Generic SCSI Device as sg0 at sc0 target 7 lun 7

and then:

sd0 (0,0): scsi_timer: timeout op:0x8 sd_state:0 scsi status:0x0

and

     SCSI Block in error = 0 (no valid label)

When I try mounting it  I just get an I/O error

mount: /dev/sd0a on /mnt: I/O error


Of course I have data that was not backed up on the disk, that I would like to  
retrieve. :-(

Maxtor will sell me a PCBA board controller for the disk for $450 (cheaper than  
the NeXT repair charge, and the estimates I have had for salvaging data off the  
disk).  Anyone have an idea if this *might* fix things? Could the problem be in  
the controller and not the media?  Any other suggestions?  Anyone seen a Norton  
UtilitiesLook-Alike for a NeXT?

Dan Oberst
oberst@sparcwood.princeton.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: shawn@monitor.com
Subject: Re: CD-ROM - 3 Month wait??
Reply-To: shawn@monitor.com
Organization: Monitor Company / IE
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 17:51:29 GMT

Kareth writes
>Just recently heard that the NeXT CD-ROM drives are backed up about
>8-9 weeks.  I'm curious how fast folks out there are getting there
>drives.  If I've got to wait 3 months for the drive, I wonder how long
>it's going to be before I would get the 3.0 CD, and if I'd be getting
>the CD before the CD drive.  What good would that be?
>
>-k

What?  You think 3.0 will be out within 3 months?

:-)
:-)
:-)

-sab
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu (Stefano Pagiola)
Subject: Re: DOS Filesystem problems - transfering stuff on floppies screws up
Reply-To: spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu
Organization: DSO, Stanford University
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 21:21:24 GMT

Dan Hartman writes
> Has anyone else ever had trouble transfering files onto a
> DOS disk bigger than about 200-300K? Every time I fill up  
> a standard HD with more than that, the PC will report a 
> read error when it tries to get it (And I've tested this  
> on about 5 different PC's)  Is this normal, or should I
> take my NeXT in to get the floppy drive replaced before
> my warranty runs out (a couple of days, I believe).   
> 

I don't think its normal.  I do this all the time, with no  
problems, in both directions.

--
-
Stefano Pagiola
Food Research Institute, Stanford University
spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: lockhart@eecom.gatech.edu (John B. Lockhart)
Subject: Re: CD-ROM - 3 Month wait??
Summary: No kidding.
Keywords: next, cd-rom, delays, delays, delays
Organization: Computer Engineering Group, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 01:06:09 GMT

In article <56777@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> asd@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Kareth) writes:
>Just recently heard that the NeXT CD-ROM drives are backed up about
>8-9 weeks.  I'm curious how fast folks out there are getting there
>drives.  If I've got to wait 3 months for the drive, I wonder how long
>it's going to be before I would get the 3.0 CD, and if I'd be getting
>the CD before the CD drive.  What good would that be?

I ordered my CDROM drive in early June from the Georgia Tech Bookstore.
With it I ordered a SCSI II <--> SCSI I cable.  Two weeks ago I got the
cable.  Looks as if two weeks from now I'll get the 3.0 release.

It would be really nice if NeXT would send me the CDROM drive before I
start volunteering to do ads for Sun.  Two and a half months wait for
a PAID-FOR drive doesn't just focus ridicule on the company, but also
on its customers (who in their right mind would lock themselves into a
computer compandy that takes nearly two months to send them a cable?).

The ultimate in irony will occur if this is not an isolated phenomenon,
and many people receive the release NeXT has worked so hard to get out
on time before receiving the drives that they can read it with.


-- 
::  Georgia Tech:  Designing tomorrow's technology the night before, using   ::
::  yesterday's equipment.                                                   ::
::                                                                           ::
::                                                                           ::
::::::::  John B. Lockhart  ::::::::::::::  lockhart@eecom.gatech.edu  ::::::::
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: garyc@eecs.nwu.edu (Gary I. Chang)
Subject: ISDN System Adapter or Extender?
Organization: EECS Department, Northwestern University, Evanston, Il., USA
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 17:39:43 GMT

	Despite the fact that NeXT ISDN won't be seen until Nov, NeXTConnection
is currently selling the HAYES made ISDN System Adapter at the price of $1199.

	I thought every NeXT is equipped with a DSP port and only requires
a brainless $349 extender box to do ISDN. Why is NeXTConnection selling 
the product in places where there's no potential market at all? Shouldn't
they sell ISDN extender instead, and put the Adapter with built-in DSP on
MACConnection or PCConnection?

	Now, here's the tough choice......
Should I go ahead and buy a Supra 14.4 or wait for the ISDN Extender which will
also provide software FAX and MODEM at the speed of 64K bits/sec?


Gary

Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: audley@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Christopher D Audley)
Subject: Re: CD-ROM - 3 Month wait??
Keywords: next, cd-rom, delays, delays, delays
Organization: HAC - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 19:30:49 GMT

In article <1992Aug15.033831.753@parsec.mixcom.com> alberto@parsec.mixcom.com (Manuel Alberto Ricart) writes:
>
>If memory serves, everyone I know has had to wait when ordering
>from NeXT. - This is one area where <GASP> Apple does it better.
>All Apple deliveries in my company, have always been received in
>3 weeks or less from ordering time.
>
>I placed an order for my CD drive 3-1/2 weeks ago. Yesterday, I received
>a call from NeXT, telling me about an error on my pricing for the
>SCSI cabling. - It took them about 21 days to process the order.
>Sure hope they were mailing the drive then. Time will tell.....

Hmm, last time I ordered something from NeXT ( my station in Nov. '90 )
it took forever to get to me as well.  Seems NeXT sells tomorrows 
technology today but doesn't deliver it until the day after tomorrow :-)

Chris

PS: Yes, I realize a CD-ROM drive isn't "tomorrow's technology", its a joke.
    Unfortunately, not one I'm laughing at.

-- 
Christopher D. Audley                 Internet: audley@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
Elec & Comp Engineering                      -= NeXTmail Welcome =-
The Johns Hopkins University          Phone: (410)889-3639
From: da0g+@andrew.cmu.edu (David Apfelbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Large Storage Systems (> 40 Gig.)
Date: 20 Aug 92 14:11:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.AeZ1W1W00WA74C4CVP
Organization: Electrical & Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA



Has anyone out there heard of any truely large storage systems?  Some
people I know are looking to store something on the order of 40 to 50
Gigabytes of data.  I've heard about Jukebox technology, but no one
seems to make the necessary drivers for the NeXT.

So, do any of you know anything?  It would seem as though a Jukebox
could be mounted as a removable-media SCSI drive, with only minor
modifications to the existing device drivers to change disks on command.
 But NeXT doesn't seem to provide the source to their drivers...  (Or
documentation -- all I've been able to find are the .h files in
/usr/include/nextdev...)


Any ideas?  Am I tree'd?



                -David Apfelbaum.
                 da0g+@andrew.cmu.edu



P.S> The 32-bit (4 Gig) limit in the NeXT filesystem prevents using a
jukebox as one large drive, as we would need to rewrite the filesystem
to get around it...   Of course, if somebody out there has already done
this.......
From: robert@amo.mit.edu (Robert Lutwak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: Large Storage Systems (> 40 Gig.)
Date: 21 Aug 92 01:29:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: athena.1992Aug21.012901.25860
Organization: Massachvsetts Institvte of Technology


> In article <AeZ1W1W00WA74C4CVP@andrew.cmu.edu>, da0g+@andrew.cmu.edu  
(David 
> Apfelbaum) writes:
> > 
> > 
> > Has anyone out there heard of any truely large storage systems?  Some
> > people I know are looking to store something on the order of 40 to 50
> > Gigabytes of data.  I've heard about Jukebox technology, but no one
> > seems to make the necessary drivers for the NeXT.

Check into a company called Contemporary Cybernetics.  They sell a
variety of large storage and backup systems.  They include NeXT
on their list of supported platforms.

They've always been a bit pricey for me, but, then again, I've
never been in the market for 50 GB of storage. :-)

I have no connection with them except for being on their mailing list.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: marcu@leland.Stanford.EDU (Marc Albert Ullman)
Subject: Re: boot from CD-ROM?
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 08:55:47 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.211805.10734@leland.Stanford.EDU> m@crito.stanford.edu (M Carling) writes:
>In article <1992Aug20.183737.23672@leland.Stanford.EDU>  
>marcu@leland.Stanford.EDU (Marc Albert Ullman) writes:
>> Thus I repeat my question:  Will NeXT make revised boot ROMs available  
>to
>> people with earlier (pre ROM ver 3.0) boot ROMs?
>
>I am not aware of any plans to do so. This question should be directed to  
>Hardware Product Marketing at NeXT. Unless you don't have a floppy drive,  
>I can't see any circumstance in which it would be worthwhile to change the  
>ROM.

Supposedly newer versions of the boot rom have other enhancements like
selective support for parity-based memory.  Also, I was of the impression
that you can't boot from the floppy either but must use the floppy to
upgrade the hard disk so that it can then read the CD.  I agree that if
(per our previous discussion) one can produce a bootable OD, this would
serve as an acceptable alternative for those times when one needs to
boot without a hard disk (like when you're in the middle of upgrading it).

> I would rather insert a floppy once a year than change the ROM.

Since I've replaced the ROM (going from 0.8 to 1.0), RAM, the motherboard, 
and the internal disk, swapping out the ROM once more doesn't bother me too
much.

--Marc
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: samurai@homer.cs.mcgill.ca (Darcy Brockbank)
Subject: Need Hardware Recommendation (NS486)
Reply-To: samurai@uriel.cs.mgill.ca
Organization: SOCS, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 14:04:55 GMT


Hello, speaking of Intel portables...

Can someone make me a recommendation on a Notebook or
Portable 486 that would be capable of running NeXTSTEP?

I need to buy one, but I don't know enough about PCs
to make the decisions on what's needed.

Many many thanks!

- db


In article <1992Aug16.213411.9078@tamsun.tamu.edu> daugher@cs.tamu.edu (Walter  
C. Daugherity) writes:
> In article <1992Jul28.010212.9657@pages.com> bruce@pages.com (Bruce  
Henderson)  
> writes:
> <edited>
> | 
> | I need to find a portable intel based machine with the following features
> | 
> | 486/25 DX or better CPU
> | 8-32 MB Memory (or better)
> | At least a 200 MB Hard disk
> | (and now the tough one)
> | 
> | a screen resolution of at least 1024x768.  
> | 
> | I realize that this will be hard to find and rather pricey.  
> | 
> 
> If price is really no object, call Modgraph at (800)327-9962.  They will  
> assemble a portable to any specs you like. 
> --
> Walter C. Daugherity			Internet, NeXTmail: daugher@cs.tamu.edu
> Texas A & M University			uucp: uunet!cs.tamu.edu!daugher
> College Station, TX 77843-3112		BITNET: DAUGHER@TAMVENUS
> 	---Not an official document of Texas A&M---

--
-------
I always thought that NeXTStep was very good in its approach to color since
the tasteless are protected from their own stupidity. -- Jason Breckenridge
(I know Jason, Jason is a close personal friend of mine, and I am not Jason!)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: gil@asterix.lbl.gov (Gil Rivlis)
Subject: Kudos to NeXT for very fast service.
Reply-To: gil@asterix.lbl.gov (Gil Rivlis)
Organization: Information and Computer Sciences Dept. (ICSD)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 19:59:55 GMT


Our CPU died one morning. The same day NeXT shiped us a new
motherboard and the next day asterix was alive again. Great service
from NeXT.

Gil
--
Gil Rivlis, Department of Physics, UC Berkeley
gil@asterix.lbl.gov (NeXT Mail welcome)
From: danh@tekig6.PEN.TEK.COM (Dan Hartman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: DOS Filesystem problems - transfering stuff on floppies screws up
Date: 20 Aug 92 19:49:22 GMT
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.

Has anyone else ever had trouble transfering files onto a DOS disk bigger
than about 200-300K? Every time I fill up a standard HD with more than that,
the PC will report a read error when it tries to get it (And I've tested this
on about 5 different PC's)  Is this normal, or should I take my NeXT in to get
the floppy drive replaced before my warranty runs out (a couple of days, I
believe).


Also, does 3.0 have a faster DOS filesystem? Gahd, is it slow reading and 
writing to DOS floppies compared to a normal PC, or a NeXT formatted disk.

Thanks,

Dan Hartman
omv@athena.mit.edu

Do not reply to danh@tekig6.pen.tek.com, this account dies today - either
post or reply to omv@athena.mit.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: hlam@bnr.ca (Hayward Lam)
Subject: Problem connecting DeskJet 500
Reply-To: hlam@bnr.ca (Hayward Lam)
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 21:23:56 GMT

I just bought a HP DeskJet 500 and made my cable to connect it to the
serial port. I also have the driver DeskJet_2.03. I did everything 
according to the README file but the printer just does not print.
DeskJet self test print a sample of 3 pages as expected. So the printer is
fine ( I think). When I try to "cat" something to the printer. The print
queue is updated but nothing comes out from the printer. Once in a while,
the printer prints "getstatusdict/??????" on the first line.
Anybody encountered the same problem? Any help will be appreciated.


Thanks.
Hayward
email to hlam@bnr.ca
From: neuss@igd.fhg.de (Christian Neuss )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: HP LaserJet IIP/IIIP Printer confusion
Date: 12 Aug 92 13:35:00 GMT

wolter@cs.tamu.edu (Jan Wolter) writes:

>I shopping for a printer for my NeXT, and have been digging through my
>archives of old comp.sys.next articles and have turned up plenty of
>confusion on the HP LaserJet Printers.  There is lots of reasonably
>consistant information on cables and printcaps, but there is also talk
>of a filter called "djf" that had be written for the DeskJet printer
>but could be modified to work with the LaserJet.  This included claims
>of print speeds like 10 minutes per page which did not impress me.  I
>tried to follow up on this by getting "djf" from the archives, but it
>appears no longer to be there.

>Can someone clarify this?  Do I need more than the proper cable and
>printcap to attach a LaserJet IIP or IIIP to my slab?  Can I get reasonable
>print quality and speed?
Yes. No. No.   :-)

OK.
As far as I know, the IIP and the IIIP have identical hardware.
The difference is the PCL level (which is the HP page description
language): The IIIP has scaleable builtin fonts, which is useless
for us NeXTers. 
The main (software) difference between the DeskJet and the LaserJet
is that the LaserJet has to store the complete Bitmap in main
memory, while the DeskJet can directly print it line for line.
The DeskJet is (due to a lack of mem) not able to download fonts,
which the LaserJet can do. And this is the key to the speed
problems: A program which uses the DeskJet has to transfer the whole
page as a bitmap, while a program for the LaserJet can upload
the fonts that it needs and thus speed up the Transfer. This approach
works fine with some TeX drivers, since TeX uses bitmapped fonts. When
printing out a document, these fonts are downloaded first. After that,
printing is extremely fast. But unless you intend to print out standard
TeX docs, this doesn't help you much. If you use a non-PS printer,
the bottleneck for the printing speed the serial interface, not the
printer hardware. So, using a LaserJet instead of a DeskJet will
give you absolutely *no* *speedup*.

Another thing. You will have to upgrade your IIP/IIIP's memory, if
you print complex pages. This adds to the price!

My advice is to buy a PostScript printer or the NeXT printer, if you
need high quality, and to go for the DeskJet if you need a low cost,
acceptable quality solution. Buing the LaserJet will leave you
unhappy in the long run: It costs more, but printing is still very slow.

BTW, the djf package is still on the archives. Get DeskJet2.01.tar.Z
from sonata.cc.purdue.edu, in /pub/next/2.0-release/source. It works
fine, but please play around with printing grey shades. I suspect
that they don't look identical to what a PostScript printer will
produce (a very coarse dithering). But maybe there are options
to control this behavior, I will have to take a closer look.
Can someone on the net help?

Hope that helped,
			[  Hi bbum! You out there?  ;-)  ]

Chris
/*
 * Christian Neuss  %  neuss@igd.fhg  %  ..in the humdrum
 */
From: pitre@n5160d.nrl.navy.mil (Richard Pitre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: looking for a serial port laser disk  control box
Keywords: laser control
Date: 14 Aug 92 14:50:43 GMT

I'm looking for one of those little boxes that plugs into the serial port  
and the control port on a laser disk player. Software would be nice too.

- Richard
From: abell@netcom.com (Steven T. Abell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
Subject: Re: ISDN System Adapter or Extender?
Date: 13 Aug 92 22:35:26 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

garyc@eecs.nwu.edu (Gary I. Chang) writes:

>        Now, here's the tough choice......
> Should I go ahead and buy a Supra 14.4 or wait for the ISDN Extender which
> will also provide software FAX and MODEM at the speed of 64K bits/sec?

Answer: Do you care about tying up your DSP? If not, the ISDN Extender is
a pretty good deal. But if you ever need your 56000, you'll wish you'd bought
something else.

Using the DSP for FAX/Modem/AnsweringMachine is a great idea, but for the fact
that most users will want these functions to run unattended *regardless* of
what else is going on. If your Apps ever use the DSP, you're sunk.

What we really need is an *external* box with:

1) A SCSI connector, a parallel port, and a serial port;

2) An ISDN port and *TWO* loop-thru POTS jacks;

3) A 56000, a control processor, and an *optional* hard disk;

4) A bunch of software.

This is the ultimate phone machine. It connects to *any computer ever made*
and provides FAX/Data/Voice processing with a very small load on its host.
Since bulk transfers happen over the SCSI or Parallel port, audio transfers
to the host can proceed at a reasonable (faster than realtime) rate. With
the serial port, benighted programs that access serial ports directly can
still be used. With the optional hard disk, your phone traffic is still
handled even when your computer is off.

Are there any manufacturers listening out there? Please reread the part
about connecting to any computer ever made if you want to estimate the
size of the market.

I approached the VP of Marketing of a major manufacturer of telcom stuff
about this. He ran around in circles frantically: "We need to do this, but we
can't market it, but we really need to do this, but we don't know how to
market it, but we have to do this, but...". You get the idea.

There are several non-obvious aspects to the design of this critter, which I
will be happy to expound upon if anyone is interested, but

	Will somebody PLEASE build this machine?

Steve abell@netcom.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
From: waltrip@capd.jhuapl.edu
Subject: Re: Large Storage Systems (> 40 Gig.)
Organization: CAPVAX, JHU/APL
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 01:09:50 GMT

In article <AeZ1W1W00WA74C4CVP@andrew.cmu.edu>, da0g+@andrew.cmu.edu (David 
Apfelbaum) writes:
> 
> 
> Has anyone out there heard of any truely large storage systems?  Some
> people I know are looking to store something on the order of 40 to 50
> Gigabytes of data.  I've heard about Jukebox technology, but no one
> seems to make the necessary drivers for the NeXT.
	I don't remember their name, but there's a company that
	frequently takes full-page ads in Open Systems Today (formerly Unix
	Today) magazine that has a RAID disk system.  They don't state their
	capacity but it might be worth checking out.  If I run across an ad,
	I'll let you know (I don't keep back issues of OST).  They state that
	they are compatible with several systems including NeXT (one of the few
	ads outside NeXTWORLD I've seen that mentions NeXT--they've had a 
	number of employment ads for NeXTSTEP programmers).

	If you find anything interesting, I'd like to hear.

	[...stuff deleted...]

c.f.waltrip

Internet:	<waltrip@capsrv.jhuapl.edu>

Opinions expressed are my own.