HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: shunger@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: re MIDI and the Arc
Date: 15 Apr 92 12:58:18 +1200
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

If I were to choose from Studio 24+ and !Inspiration I would go for
Inspiration.
 
From the demo of !Inspiration I have !inspiration seems a more professional
package comparible with sequencers on the Atari and Mac
( I've used packages on both machines ) whereas 24+ is aimed
at the educational market (i.e really simple functions done fairly well) 

The ability for !inspiration to swap and
change reels (which hold MIDI tracks) is something that's really 
missing from 24+ -ok you can use 24 tracks but then MIDI only has
16 channels for one MIDI out.Inspiration can have up to 256 MIDI 
channels I think.

It all really depends on the kind of things you want to do
Real-time notation on 24+ is great (picking up all you're mistakes)
Inspiration however ( from what I've seen/got) doesn't have musical
(i.e notes/staves) but its pure sequencing editing suite is brilliant.

I've managed to crash 24+ only once but !inspiration from early rumours
was bug ridded (this is probably due to no beta testing) but upgrades
are apparently free.

If you are in a hurry to get a MIDI package 24+ has a shallower learning
curve but in the end is less featured than !inspiration.

Another MIDI program that is on the horizon is Sequ-P from the serial
port (or is it the vertical twist?) this is undergoing beta testing
at the moment and is tentitively due for release in May sometime.

-----------------------------

If anyone wants a copy of the demo of Inspiration I'll probably post it
in the next day or so. 

Note a MIDI interface is required for the demos.


Stephen Hunger
From: dseal@armltd.co.uk (David Seal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: New ARM development
Date: 13 Apr 92 14:37:15 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: A.R.M. Ltd, Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambs, UK

In article <1AwXYgj014n@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz
(Philip R. Banks) writes:

>dseal@armltd.co.uk (David Seal) writes:
>> In article <16g2Ppj013n@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz
>> (Philip R. Banks) writes:
>> >ca121@cs.city.ac.uk (D BROWNLEE) writes:
>> >>Date: 31 Mar 92 20:19:22 GMT
>> 
>> I don't think he did. Work out what time and date that is in New Zealand :-)
>
>   <Cough> <Splutter> <cough>. How could I forget it? However it wasn't
>April 1st in the Uk at that time, which is where the article was posted
>from, so my point still stands....

Oops. I misread the levels of attribution, leading me to believe the
original article was posted from New Zealand...

Sorry.

David Seal
dseal@armltd.co.uk

All opinions are mine only...
From: aralph@cix.compulink.co.uk (Alan Ralph)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: 8 bit stuff...
Date: 9 Apr 92 03:14:30 GMT
Reply-To: Alan Ralph <aralph@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Organization: Gated to News by demon.co.uk

Dave Sainty sez:
>Hmm, I've now got my Hard drive cache working on my model B, does this
>make me the first 8 bit user in th world to have a cached drive?
>
>(20 sectors, cacheing directories and other system sectors)
>
>This project is coming along pretty well. Anyone interested in an
>alternative to ADFS for a hard drive? Most useful on a model B, as it puts
>te workspace in sideways ram rather than using main memory.

Yes, please do. As it happens, I've had a Morley Hard Drive (20MB) for
about 2 years now, next to my Master. That, and a Turbo board, are
currently the main reasons why I haven't moved up yet (after the financial
side, that is).

>It's now about 3 months since I FINALLY got my comms program for the 8 bit
>machines ready for distibution.

>For those that remember this project, Zmodem never eventuated, nor Kermit,
>for which there was less interest.

Shame about Zmodem... now THAT would be very nice indeed!

>The rest was done... Ymodem, scrollback, directory, ansi etc etc etc...

I've got some news for you... you have a competitor! Yep, Gareth Babb at
the World of Cryton BBS has written not one but *4* terminal proggies, all
supporting file transfers up to Ymodem-g, 3 of them also doing ANSI
emulation, 1 even with four colours!! At the moment, a new update is in
the works, with the promise of even more goodies.

The actual terminal is pretty minimal, but it does the job. I use it for
grabbing Usenet stuff so I can read it later. At the moment, it's only
available from a few BBSs in the UK, but I might be persuaded to post it
to the binaries group....

>Unfortunately, the moderators of the binaries group are ignoring all
>messages on this subject. Is there still any interest in this program?
>It's over a year since my last post on it I realise... How about a show of
>hands.

Yep. Count me in!

>And some mail from one of teh moderators would be nice too!

Yeah, come on chaps! Both the sources and binaries groups have been deadly
quiet for ages...

>While I'm about it, I've also written an UnZip program. It handles implode
>only, and I don't intend doing any more work on this or the Zipper until
>my hard drive is running. Any interest in that program?

YES! I'd love to be able to get at those pesky ZIPed archives! PLEASE
finish it and pass it around!

Alan.
From: bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: >>>help! checkmap fails
Date: 15 Apr 92 17:04:44 GMT
Reply-To: bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick)
Organization: U of Cambridge Comp Lab, UK

In article <20584.9204131420@susssys1.rdg.ac.uk> ssurawls@susssys1.reading.ac.uk (Mister E) writes:
>Nicko van Someren recently said "it seems that the real cost of useing the
>file core E format is that there is nobody at Acorn who understands it". I
>found this out about a year ago when I asked Oak if there was a defragmanting
>program for the archie, and they told me that no-one has written one as no-one
>knows how the format works, not even acorn! It seems that when doing anything

Well I just feel like leaping to acorn's defense here, since I can
brag a bit as well. It did indeed used to be the case that all the
acorn people who understand it had left, but the chap who took over
filesystems then(Jon Roach) and myself spent a long evening a couple
of years ago working out the map format, and he now seems to
undertstand the format well. Unfortunately he hasn't had the time to
write a reliable disc repair proggie, but perhaps that is something
for after RO3.... (After they've all finished about 6 months holidays I
expect..)

Brian.Brunswick@cl.cam.ac.uk  Disclaimer.  Short sig rules!
From: banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz (Philip R. Banks)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: RO3 and the A5000 Multisy
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 12:17:02 +1200
Reply-To: banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: My Arc.

dpirie@cix.compulink.co.uk (Douglas Pirie) writes:

>   Also extremely variable - I've seen several A5000s, and each of the 
> 
> monitors has had different characteristics - One flickered
> madeningly, one 
> was fuzzy, another was slightly distorted in one corner, and a couple 
> were 
> actually really good. I must admit I'm less than impressed with
> Acorn's 
> quality control.

   The problem seems to be more the fact that the monitor is good but is
highly sensitive to local conditions. The monitor Acorn supply doesn't have
any metal sheilding for the tube in it and is affected by electronic
equipment near it. For instance my friend has the A5000 that we use near his
television. Switching the television on causes the monitor to develop a
slight flicker and some distortion in the corner of the screen nearest the
TV. Turning off the television removes it.

   So if your having problems with your monitor try removing any uneccesary
electronic gear from around it (this may, optionally, include the computer
itself... :-) ) and see if it makes a difference.

   Now what I want to know is if you can dampen the emissions an A3000 puts
out. You see my A3000 affects all the televisions in the house when turned
on. And as the times I usually want to use the machine are when people want
to watch TV, you can easily see that conflicts arise. Does anyone know of a
way, short of encasing the machine in a large metal cage, that stops these
emissions? It would be really helpful if I could stop them...

    Philip

--
Philip R. Banks                                                         @@@@@/|
Syntax: mail <banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz|banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> @@@@/#|
                                                                        @@@/##|
What price the crown of a king on his throne,                           @@/---|
When you're chained in the dark all alone?  ---A.P.P.                   @/    |
From: neilp@cs.hw.ac.uk (Neil Postlethwaite)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Personal Computer World
Date: 16 Apr 92 10:52:48 GMT
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland

In article <1992Apr13.161619.2984@microsoft.com> felixa@microsoft.com (Felix ANDREW) writes:
>Someone wrote ...
>>Such as? Win 3.1 is still at the Beta test sites, OS2.2 (to compete with
>>Win 3.1/NT) is not appearing 'til next year and developers are only
>>*just* getting their teeth into Win 3.0!!
>Windows 3.1 was announced last monday (6th April) to the world at
>Windows World. FYI 20K resellers were able to place more than 750K
>copies of 3.1 on their display shelves. And as for end users, well
>175K upgrades were delivered in time for the launch.
>Thats almost a million copies sold on the week of release.
>

	Is this to add to the '6-10' million copies SOLD, not currently
IN USE, that Microsoft are happy to quote. 6-10 million. They must be using
Microsoft works spreadsheet to add them up !!! A difference of 4 million`
between magazine quotes.

	With a 1million plus order for copies and upgrades, it shows
how shit Windows 3.0 is. People are gagging at the bit to get something
a bit more stable.

	'Word 4 Windows 2.0 falls over with tedious regularity under Windows
3.1'. A direct quote from Guy Swarbrick. May PCW.

	Back to the drawing board Microsoft !!!

	Neil
From: sfc@ukc.ac.uk (Si.)
Newsgroups: ukc.micro,ukc.unix.help,comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Database file format...
Date: 8 Apr 92 13:50:49 GMT
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.


  I wonder if anyone can help me..?

  I am writing a program which must deal with PC .DBF files. Can anyone
point me in the direction of literature which explains how these database
files are structured, or does anyone possibly have C source which could be
tailored to said problem?

  All help is received gratefully.

Si.

                ------------------------------------------
                University of Kent at Canterbury (England)
                           Phone (0227) 780 039
From: banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz (Philip R. Banks)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Correction to last posting....
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 18:35:17 +1200
Reply-To: banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: My Arc.

mcg@waikato.ac.nz writes:

> Correction:
>       
>       Ye olde Standard A5000 can't read MAC discs. With a software/hardware
> addition, it can (read mac HD discs).

   Well with Mac HD discs it is just a software problem. However their disc
format is *very* screwy in just the catalogue system alone. I mean who
seriously likes the Resource Fork/Data Fork concept? If they *really* had to
have the two the least they should have done is allow more that one data
item in the data fork as part of the underlying structure. But oh no. Not
Apple. That would be making machines of tomorrow.... :-)

>       I stand corrected, sorry....

   I should hope so. I mean everyone else on the net is *totally*
responsible and *never* indulges in this short of shameless erronious
posting... :-) :-)

    Philip

--
Philip R. Banks                                                         @@@@@/|
Syntax: mail <banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz|banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> @@@@/#|
                                                                        @@@/##|
What price the crown of a king on his throne,                           @@/---|
When you're chained in the dark all alone?  ---A.P.P.                   @/    |
From: ee88jmf@brunel.ac.uk (J M Fielder)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Yet more grumbles about Acorn (Was Re: The draw format and Acorn)
Date: 14 Apr 92 12:19:44 GMT
Reply-To: ee88jmf@brunel.ac.uk.brunel.ac.uk (J M Fielder)
Organization: Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK

In article <1992Apr8.094928.24324@doc.ic.ac.uk> ijp@doc.ic.ac.uk (Ian Palmer) writes:
>O.K. lets assume a company bring out a package, say a desktop
>publishing package (for sake of argument) and they sell it openly for
>one computer. Someone opens their new package and finds that there are
>no instructions. They write to the company asking for the instructions
>and the company state that they are busilly porting the software for
>other computers, and fixing bugs in the package, and will only release
>the instruction when all that is completed (even though there will be
>absolutly no change to the functionallity of the package). 

Well, RISC OS 3 users HAVE got a user manual (and a lot better it is to),
plus if they bought a LC package they get that lovely :-) video.....

However, would you expect the circuit diagrams for you lovely new computer
that you have just bought. In the old 'techie computers' days you might,
but certainly not. The PRM's are to software writers what a Circuit diagram
is to a hardware designer. People have had to wait for the circuit diagrams
for the Archie series after the machine was launched, so it is quite fair
for people to wait for the PRM's.

People that *need* the PRM's for RISC OS 3 can get them if they are 
requiseterd with Arcorn and sign a lovely thing called a NDA. Acorn
aren't *that* stupid.

I think that people still see the A5000 like the old BBC, a programmers
machine. The fact (sad in some ways) is that the Archie is rapidly becoming
a USERS computer, not a programmers / hackers computer.

Therefore, just wait, they will come in time.....

> [Stuff about a new machine to replace the 540]
>They already did that with the A5000 remember. 

The A5000 and A540 are two different machines in my eyes, the A5000 is a
users machine (>4Mb (8Mb) with a 'buggy' (note, not having a go at RO3 there)
OS) where as the A540 has a stable OS (which will run all of the applications
needed) and can have up to 16Mb of RAM. Just ideal for a DTP system and
serious program development. Oh, and the A540 can run RisciX

Oh, and the A540 is in a 'proper' box.

>>> you can't use it to it's full potential because you are in the dark as
>>> to how to program the damn thing.

See above

Joust
All disclamers here.....
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Disc questions
From: Gavin.Flower@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Gavin Flower)
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:39:24 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Comp. Sci., Victoria Uni. of Wellington, New Zealand.


In article <9326@baird.cs.strath.ac.uk>, sproven@cs.strath.ac.uk (Simon B Proven IE91) writes:
|> In article <1992Apr5.213156.25606@comp.vuw.ac.nz> Gavin.Flower@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Gavin Flower) writes:
|> >
|> >of faster disc I/O.  These discs had one head per platter.  Therefore I suspect
|> >that Acorn would NOT provide such a feature - most people wanting high
|> >performance on I/O and being trusting of discs.
|> 
|> I once got a Disk Error when saving a file to my Oak SCSI hard disc.  The
|> error turned out to be in the middle of the file.  *verify didn't detect
|> the error but I *defected the sector out.

From what you say, and my discussions with Philip Banks, it appears that SOME
error checking is done when an Arc writes to disc.  Can someone (from Acorn?)
please give us a more definitive answer?

Gavin


-- 
                     Tomorrow's Society
                         Depends on
                     Today's Children  - help us raise them properly!
******* These comments have no known correlation with dept. policy! *******
From: fl@tools.de (Frank Lancaster)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: help! checkmap fails
Date: 7 Apr 92 09:20:46 GMT
Organization: TooLs GmbH, Bonn, Germany
In-reply-to: lithgow@uslp.UUCP's message of 6 Apr 92 09:22:53 GMT

lithgow@uslp.UUCP writes:

> I am almost 100% sure that 95% of the UNIX variants out there, provide
> *no facilities* for de-fragmentation. One reason that this apparant
> oversight exists, is that fragmentation is not such a big deal for
> multi-user systems, since the disk heads are skittering everywhere,
> anyway. Not to mention the massive caches these systems have.

Have you ever heard of BSD unix? Here's a quote from the fs man page:

     fs_optim specifies whether the file system should try to
     minimize the time spent allocating blocks, or if it should
     attempt to minimize the space fragmentation on the disk.  If
     the value of fs_minfree (see above) is less than 10%, then
     the file system defaults to optimizing for space to avoid
     running out of full sized blocks.  If the value of minfree
     is greater than or equal to 10%, fragmentation is unlikely
     to be problematical, and the file system defaults to optim-
     izing for time.

-- Frank Lancaster, fl@tools.de
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: >>>>>>>New !Creator
From: banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz (Philip R. Banks)
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 23:11:04 +1200
Reply-To: banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: My Arc.

ssurawls@susssys1.reading.ac.uk (Mister E) writes:

> I should imagine that you will need to send your UIN to a software house that
> has written the program you want, and they will code it into the program. Then
> it will only run on the machine that you bought it for. As far as I can
> remember, you are not allowed even to run the program on your other archie if
> you have one.
> 
> If you get rid of the machine, you will need to get the UID chip transferred
> across. This has already happened to a friend of mine.

   All I can is <urgggggghh>. I *hate* these kinds of software protection.
They are *horrible* to use if your machine needs hardware fixes...

    Philip

--
Philip R. Banks                                                         @@@@@/|
Syntax: mail <banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz|banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> @@@@/#|
                                                                        @@@/##|
What price the crown of a king on his throne,                           @@/---|
When you're chained in the dark all alone?  ---A.P.P.                   @/    |
From: AWaddington@acorn.co.uk (Andy Waddington)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: >>Computer emissions
Date: 13 Apr 92 22:31:30 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

ssurawls@susssys1.reading.ac.uk (Mister E) writes:

>My proposed solution may well not solve the radio emission problem totally,
>but it will reduce the amount of RF coming out. If the TV is a room or two
>away then that should be fine. Even enclosing the beast in a metal case
>doesn't stop radio emissions totally, my old 310 still knocks out radios for
>miles! I keep on expecting misguided aircraft to land on my house...
>
>Mr Ian Rawlings

I used to walk to Acorn with a walkman. One day, it chewed a tape, so I
carried on, but now listening to the radio. I then walked into Acorn's
Silver building, with about two hundred BBC micros and Masters on several
networks, all within a few feet. Now I use an ear trumpet. The best solution
is to surround your radio/TV with a heavy mu-metal shield. Not only do you
avoid the RFI, but also all the crap that is broadcast on radio and TV :-)

Andy.
From: Albert.Koelmans@newcastle.ac.uk (Albert Koelmans)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: PC Emulator 1.8
Date: 13 Apr 92 08:27:29 GMT
Organization: University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, NE1 7RU

torq@hal.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Andy Mell) writes:

>I understand that version 1.8 of the PC emulator has been released, It is
>said to include support for VGA graphics and Extended Memory. 
>(the full details are in the May Acorn User)

I have never been able to run *any* version of the PC Emulator on my machine
(a standard 310 with Watford 5.25 floppy interface fitted). It just hangs
whenever I start it up. Has anyone had the same problem? Any hints about what
could be wrong?

Albert

--

E-mail address:  Albert.Koelmans@uk.ac.newcastle
Computing Laboratory, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK (telephone +44 091-2228155,fax 2228232)
From: lithgow@uslp.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Personal Computer World
Date: 8 Apr 92 01:36:09 GMT

Whoops, naughty me, I've been forgetting the Subject: line. :-(

[In message "Re: Personal Computer World", sgitokyo!VNET.IBM.COM!nicho writes:]
>  Perhaps it's because a drastic jump was not necessary.
>OS/2 runs Dos and Windoze programs quite happily, without being
>architecturally held back because of it. Windoze NT will (probably)
>do something similar.The word 'emulator' comes to mind here.

Your reply points out that Microsoft thought a drastic jump *was*
necessary. OS/2 is not even slightly DOS-like. When it flopped (because
the ignorant uses wanted DOS compatability, not just an emulator),
Microsoft shifted emphasis to Windows. IBM *still* thinks a jump is
needed. (Note how incompatible PS/2's are with PC AT's.)

Acorn's jump was more impressive, from an 8-bit BBC OS, to a 32-bit,
different architecture new OS. But they still managed to maintain
compatibility, with a variety of emulators and data-compatibility. Pretty
damn impressive. (Better than Apple, who made a similar jump, and
Commodore, and Atari, and Sinclair, etc.)

>   IBM PC's have _never_ been 8086 based ....

IBM PC clones have, though. The old Olivetti's for instance. The original
IBM PC was even worse than this, though -- it was 8088 based! (It saved
money on not using a 16-bit bus, but was still hideously expensive.)

>The average PC spec is now 80386SX with 4MB,a VGA monitor and a 60MB
>disk. Where have you been the last 3 years ???

Average where (for the last 3 years, anyway)? A number of friends of mine
bought IBM PC clones two to three years back (the fools) -- none of them
even had a '286 in them, let alone a '386! For many people even a '286 is
just too expensive, and even VGA is pushing it. This may have changed in
the last year, though. Change your sentence to 'Where have you been in
the last few months?'

>>(a bit like your average business man who knows nothing about
>>computers).
>  Nor would it seem, does your average student .... :-)

Seems to know more than your average IBM employee. ;-)

>Greg Nicholls ... nicho@vnet.ibm.com or nicho@cix.compulink.co.uk

- Malcolm.
lithgow@usl.com
These are my opinions. Bye.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: A5000 disk format recognising
From: epoo1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (Edouard Malachi     Poor           )
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 07:31:14 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

In <1992Apr10.104524.7354@waikato.ac.nz> mcg@waikato.ac.nz writes:

>> 	I can't see any reason why the Arc cannot read Mac disks. The
>> drive is varaible, yes, but only on a track by track basis. I'm sure......
>
>	IT CAN'T READ FLAMING MAC DISCS, O.K.!?!?

It should be able to... The High Density floppies in the Mac II's are just
ordinary high density drives, and they can read 800k mac discs... Therefore
A5000s which also have ordinary high density drives should also be able to
read mac 800k discs. This doesn't mean that Acorn have written any code to
let your A5000 actually do so, but I susupect this is more likely because
the format of mac discs is non trivial, unlike PeeCees...

Edouard Poor.
(Maybe I'll bring the .sigs in on monday...)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn