HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: nizar@RISC.CAM.ORG (Nizar Sabra)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: What is KA9Q?
Date: 9 Sep 92 02:05:59 GMT
Organization: "We don't need no stinking organization..."

Howdy...

   While I was looking through my news, I noticed that Mr. Greg Nicholls (nicho@VNET.IBM.COM) mentioned using KA9Q to run a SLIP connection. Now I know what a SLIP is, but what is KA9Q? Is it PD? If not, how much is it and where from? How easy is it to us
e?

   Any answers would be greatly appreciated. (EMail preffered because my News Spool isn't updated as often as it should be).

Nizar.
  

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
     _________________               | EMail:   n_sabra@Pavo.Concordia.CA
|\  |   __       _   /               |          nizar@Sunkisd.CS.Concordia.CA
| \ | |  /  /\  |   /                |          nizar@Concour.CS.Concordia.CA
|  \| | /_ /__\ |  /__               |          nizar@Altitude.Concordia.CA
                     /    |   _      |          nizar@CAM.ORG
Tel. (514)747-1238  / /\  |\ |  /\   |          root@RISC.CAM.ORG
     (514)748-7524 / /__\ |/ | /__\  |          etc.. etc...   :)
                                     |          (You get the point)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: julian@bridge.welly.gen.nz (Julian Wright)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: ReadNews 0.21 is on it's way
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 02:58:10 +1200
Reply-To: wright_j@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
Organization: USS Enterprise, NCC 1701a

Ok people, I have just sent version 0.21 of ReadNews to Newcastle.
It's been a long time coming, but I hope you will think the wait
was worth it. Best wait until Albert posts an update message
before requesting it though or you may get the old one. :-)

    Cheers, Julian.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: The New Acorn Range In Portsmouth
From: jwil1@cs.aukuni.ac.nz (TMOTA)
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 23:52:39 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept. University of Auckland

Gavin.Flower@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Gavin Flower) writes:

>In article <18631@acorn.co.uk> slovesey@acorn.co.uk (Simon Lovesey) writes:
>>THE NEW ACORN RANGE ON DISPLAY IN PORTSMOUTH
>>
>>On Saturday 19 September "The World Of Acorn" will be visiting
>>The Guildhall, Portsmouth. On display will be 
>>the recently launched Acorn 32 bit computer range, 


>This is the third time I've "had" to read this!  I don't live in the
>UK, let alone Portsmouth!

>Once is acceptable, but *3* times - is a trifle excessive!

Exactly. Try typing "uk" instead of "world" at the distribution prompt.

This is ESPECIALLY bad, as this has been posted on usenet, which is 
NOT ACORN'S PRIVATE ADVERTISING NETWORK.

I am happy to see press releases about new machines every 6 months or so,
and bits & pieces of information that are of interest to the readership,
but Acorn should take more care to post INFORMATION, not ADVERTS to these
groups.

e.g.  "A new version of the PC Emulator has been released.
      It now has an option to beep on startup.
      Acorn have more details if you are interested"

rather than
      "A new version the PC Emulator has been released. Hype Hype. Hype.
      Most brilliant thing ever. More hype. Irrelevant twoddle about how
      Acorn is the industry leader. Some more Hype. The upgrade now supports
      an extra option to make it beep on startup. Acorn succeeds again!
      Hype. Bullshit. Hype. To order your upgrade, please send $19.95
      by cheque or postal order to: .....    Visa, BankCard, Diner's,
      and American express all welcome"

The readership of the group want to hear the NEWS.
We do NOT want to to be deluged with Acorn advertising campaigns.
Just because usenet postings cost nothing does not give you the right to use
them as free advertising.

(Sorry, but several of us here have been getting more and more annoyed about
this attitude for some time now, so I thought it was about time I said
something.)
-- 
_________________  "I'd like to answer this question in two ways:
  /____ _ _/_ __       First in my normal voice, and then
 // / //_//_ /_/       in a silly, high-pitched whine." (Monty Python)
From: martin@thed.uk22.bull.com (Martin Percival)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Limit on files per directory
Date: 14 Sep 92 09:45:55 GMT
Organization: Bull HN Informations Systems Inc.

It depends if it was a real filer window that had the 102 files in it. If it was
a "filer" window put on screen by a utility, then it is quite feasible to
exceed your 77 file limit. Someone even suggested using Arcfs in it's "Simply
store the files, don't zap em" mode to get round the limit in RO2 for a large
font directory. This sounds like a good way to compile some of the GNU stuff,
'cos they just love having 200 files in a directory :-)

Martin
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: gtoal@ibmpcug.co.uk (Graham Toal)
Subject: Re: OS differences and improvements
Organization: The IBM PC User Group, UK.
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 23:04:55 GMT

In article <1992Sep7.074509.14319@rdg.dec.com> goodwin@edieng.enet.dec.com (Pete Goodwin) writes:
>What bothers me about commands like 'ls', 'grep' (or GROPE on Archimedes!) is
>that if they are 'icons' representing some concept, I think they're pretty
>awful icons. It reduces the command line to 'magic incantations' in order to
>get what you want.
You've missed the point I was making.  Icons are not mnemonics.  They are
totally arbitrary symbols which your own mind imbues with meaning when it
correlates them sufficiently often with the task that invoking them
represents.

> I'd like to see a CLI that is reasonably easy to understand
>at first glance, rather than one with magic words.

That's what's needed for beginners or infrequent users - mnemonic command
names.  Iconic names are indeed for gurus.  That's why unix users love
them - unix has too many tricky concepts for bozos to learn, hence the
average unix user tends to be more intelligent than the average DOS or
VMS user, and is more capable of learning the runic command set.  Thus
reinforcing the image of unix as an obscure guru's system.

G
(sprinkle smileys where appropriate)
--
From: tomc@siesoft.co.uk (Tom Crossland)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: RISCOS 3.10/ArcTerm7 and serial input - help!
Date: 14 Sep 92 13:46:32 GMT
Reply-To: tomc@siesoft.co.uk
Organization: Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Ltd.

Steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft) writes:
: Since installing RISC OS 3.10 I am having problems with downloads from
: bulletin boards to my A440/1.  I am using ArcTerm 7 and a v32+v42bis
: modem.  The download gets to around 30k and then I start getting errors.
: The download completes *eventually* but takes a long long time.  I have
: tried loading (separately) SerialUtils and a module called SerialBuffer
: (by David Pilling?).  The latter appears to have made a slight
: improvement.  Any suggestions?

It sounds ominously like a flow control program.... there are two types of
flow control you need to worry about. Local flow control is that between the
computer and the modem... You need to use some form of control here or the
modem will continue sending when the computer isn't ready and visa versa.
DTR is a way of doing this, although RTS/CTS is more reliable. Then there is
remote flow control, ie flow control between your modem and the modem you 
connect to. Again RTS/CTS is the best one to opt for here, although if you're
not having any luck with that you could try XON/XOFF (the latter sends a
start/stop character, so when download binary files it may cause problems if
things aren't set up properly).

It might also be worth trying it out with your DTE speed set to 9600, as the
serial port on the 440 is a lot more reliable at 9600 than it is at 19200.

Good luck,
--
___ _ __
  ((_))))... tomc@siesoft.co.uk, ma11tc@surrey.ac.uk, etc.
From: bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: SCSI Card Capabilities
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:11:44 GMT
Reply-To: bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick)
Organization: U of Cambridge Comp Lab, UK

In article <9209080701.AA28727@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> lithgow@usl.com (Malcolm Lithgow) writes:
>Having decided to buy an SCSI card, I would like to leave my expansion
>options open. Especially, I would like to be able to use the tapefs on
>Newcastle (I can borrow a tape-drive from work every month or so for
>back-ups), and I would also like to buy a CD-ROM sometime in the
>future.
>
>I know that if I buy the Acorn SCSI card, I will be able to do these
>things. But I understand that the Acorn card is still rather
>expensive.
>
Ok, as the writer of tapefs, I'll answer some of this.

>My question is: are any of the other cards really compatible with the
>Acorn card, but cheaper (and not slower)?

To my knowledge, none of the other scsi cards yet implements backgrounding.
(please, please contradict me, some vendor!) This is a vital feature
for getting the best out of tape backup systems, as it lets you run the disc
and tape simultaneously. The two most compatible systems that I've heard of
are Oak (with latest rom) and Serial port. There is a new version of tapefs
that lets you disable backgrounding and use these. This will be appearing
shortly, as I need to refresh all my software without my Trinity address,
which will shortly be out of date.
>
>BTW, I'm not interested in getting RiscIX in the future, so that isn't
>an issue. (In case you couldn't have guessed. ;->)
RiscIX is actually quite a nice thing - one of two machines running it
and using the file system over nfs provides a nice solution to the fs
problem. Pity about the price though, and the fact that acorn seems to be
abandoning it. (No developement)
>
>(Oh, a side question: is RISC OS 3.10, a SCSI card, and a
>stock-standard CD-ROM drive all you need to use CD-ROMs, or is there
>extra software required?)
The latest Acorn scsi cards come with cd support software in the rom.
I'm reasonably sure this is all you need. Those with older acorn scsi
cards can get an upgrade.
>
>-Malcolm.  lithgow@usl.com  These are merely my questions and opinions.


Brian.Brunswick@cl.cam.ac.uk  Disclaimer.  Short sig rules!
From: bh2@doc.ic.ac.uk (B Hogan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: StrongED II version 1.10
Date: 7 Sep 92 16:23:51 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Computing, Imperial College, London, England
NNTP-Posting-Host: dirty.doc.ic.ac.uk

In article <1992Sep3.152209.18447@alf.uib.no> guttorm@hp825.bih.no (Guttorm Vik) writes:
>I see that some people (violently) dislikes my error-boxes. These people might
>want to stick to !Edit, 'cause the boxes haven't changed. There are some 
>improvements though: ESC removes them
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Hooray!

>People cries about my boxes not being standard: There *is* no standard. Almost
>no programs uses Wimp_ReportError. The various boxes do *look* a bit like the
>Wimp_ReportError one (ie. Big & Ugly!)

"Almost no programs use Wimp_ReportError"? Thinks... I can't think of any
serious bit of software that doesn't use it! Of course, there is unfortunately
no standard for little messages (like "You have not saved X file") and so
they do vary a lot. Has some sort of "standard" been defined in RO3?

>Please report your misgivings about any part of StrongED/StrongHelp, but be
>sivilised about it or shut the f*ck up.
> _
>(-)rmStrong

Err, I thought I was civilised! I have just looked back and my posting
seemed perfectly reasonable (and at least polite). Did you notice there
were several smileys in it :-?

I don't want this _discussion_ to degenerate into a "I know more swear
words than you" competition before we've even started.

The very civilised (and smiley :-), Bryan H. ;-D

Who may or may not have an email address of bh2%dirty.doc.ic.ac.uk@doc.ic.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: u894776@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (James McCoull)
Subject: Re: A3010 views
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 23:44:33 GMT

cadwallader@forty2.enet.dec.com () writes:

>True, indeed, but a little inaccurate. The blitter CAN draw polygons, in
>polygon fill mode (!), it is the math that slows the rendering... 
	Hmmm the blitter cannot draw polygons directly.  You have to
clear a buffer, draw the outline into the buffer, and do a fill copy
from the buffer to the destination screen.  All this takes a bit of
a toll on the old blitter - infact its trivial to write a general purpose
polygon filler using the 68000 alone, which is faster than one using the
blitter!  Of course I have a few smart tricks using both the 68000 and
blitter to work together - but the blitter is *not* being used in fill
mode.  [Of course for fake polygon filling - read glenz vectors... you
can make the blitter draw polygons very fast]

>The power of the copper goes far deeper than simple raster bars, don't forget.
>These are the simplest use of the copper chip. The ECS copper can change the
>contents of ANY hardware register, at a resolution of 1 scanline vertically
>and 4 pixels horizontally.
	Any hardware register?  Hmmm the copper I have cant access below
about $dff020, maybe the ECS copper is different? I dunno.

>                            So I have seen, for example shimmering/mirroring
>effects, scrolling, twisting of text scrollers etc.. all with the copper. One

Hmmm the hscroll and bitplane modulos contribute most to these effects -
not just the copper.  FWIW the sinus scrollers and helix scrollers are
more or less all blitter/cpu work not copper work.  vertical shifting
cant be handled by the copper.

>									 The
>"colourful" overall effect was actually again copper tricks on a 1-colour
>screen. The BEST part of Amiga gfx kit is definitely the copper, IMO. 

	Hmmm... the copper is nice... but the best part of the old amiga
is the blitter, and the bitplane hscroll and modulos.  Now if there was
another copper like device just for feeding the blitter then the
blitter would be awesome!

>BTW - I don't know what changes have been made to the copper in the AGA
>chipset?!

	I can tell you now - none.

>Don't forget too, that the A600 is being pushed down as a `console-beater',
>it is essentially almost 4-5 year old technology now. New Amigas are
>promised based on an '020 and having the AGA chipset.... we can hope! :-)

	Heck! I'm a big amiga and archimedes fan - have got both an A310
and an A1000 -  And I tell you now... I am sorely dissapointed with the
new machines from both CBM and Acorn.  The new A3010 would have been nice
if it had a proper 256 colour mode... sigh! [and possibly based around an
ARM3].

Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Subject: Re: From inside the cathouse...
Organization: Nottingham University
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 92 14:35:49 GMT

In article <2Hacd3j020n@khantazi.welly.gen.nz> banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz writes:
>postmaster@acorn.co.uk (postmaster) writes:
>> [lots of apparently good stuff]

I suspect that a lot of people, including myself, are wondering what this
is all about. From what I can make out, a message appeared on this group
from "postmaster@acorn.co.uk", but was promptly cancelled.

Since some people seem to have received it OK, please could somebody post
a copy, either to the group or to myself?

Simon.
From: smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: Where can I get an A4000/A5000 for a reasonable price ?
Date: 13 Sep 92 22:26:50 GMT
Organization: Nottingham University

In article <18te4sINN5eh@uniwa.uwa.edu.au> ernie@tartarus.uwa.edu.au (Ernest Ong) writes:
>
>Hi!
>
>I am an Archive subscriber. Archive is published by Norwich Computer
>Services and they provide *REAL* good mail order service ... even for
>hardware. 

Hum. I would normally agree. However their waiting list for RISC OS 3.10
is over 850 people long, and they haven't shipped a single upgrade (now
of course the upgrades have all been recalled from them, so customers will
have an even longer wait!).

Archive published details of the upgrades before the actual launch took
place, and thus secured a large proportion of the orders for upgrades.

(NB Normally I would agree that they offer good service to most people).

Simon.
PS Why have non-A5000 RISC OS 3.1 upgrades been recalled from dealers?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Burrows  smb@cs.nott.ac.uk  psyhsmb@unicorn.nott.ac.uk +44 533 712030
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: rws@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Of RISCOS 3 and ARM 2s
Date: 8 Sep 92 14:58:21 GMT
Organization: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

Is anyone running RISCOS 3.1 on an ARM 2 based machine?  Would you care to
comment on the speed issue that some have mentioned already?  How does it
compare with RISCOS 2 for speed?  Is it useable on a 1 Meg machine?
Many have said that you really need an ARM 3 but I get the impression that this
is coming mostly from people who already have ARM 3, they might find the speed
of RISCOS 2 without an ARM3 deplorable.

Russell.
From: DWallin@acorn.co.uk (Dick Wallin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: RISCOS 3.1, the final conclusions..
Date: 11 Sep 92 14:37:16 GMT
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

In article <1992Sep11.124008.22633@rdg.dec.com> goodwin@edieng.enet.dec.com (Pete Goodwin) writes:

>
>In article <1992Sep11.090616.7812@utwente.nl>, loek@pico8.nt.el.utwente.nl (Loek L. Frederiks) writes...
>
>>- If you are using outline fonts, things go much faster. Acorn please
>>  confirm has RISCOS 3.1 12 built-in fonts (RISCOS 3.0 contained only
>>  3 fonts).
>
>In my version of 3.1, there are three fonts: Corpus, Trinity and, um, Homerton?
>System was also there as well. The other fonts were on disk.
>

There are 12 fonts in the RISC OS 3.10 ROM (as there were in RISC OS 3.00)

These are:

Corpus
Corpus.Bold
Corpus.Medium.Oblique
Corpus.Bold.Oblique
Homerton Homerton.Bold
Homerton.Medium.Oblique
Homerton.Bold.Oblique
Trinity Trinity.Bold
Trinity.Medium.Italic
Trinity.Bold.Italic

Where you might be going wrong is in only considering the Font *FAMILIES* of which there
are three, namely Corpus, Homerton and Trinity.

>>Lots of stuff deleted
>
>That's funny, formatting was multitasking. Even on an ARM2 it was never that
>slow.
>

Formatting was NOT multitasking on RISC OS 2 but WAS multitasking on RISC OS
3.00 and as you correctly point out was/is not slow.

>>To my opinion, nothing has changed a lot. The only difference is that application
>>writers have to be carefull when writing their code. Make things always as
>>fast as possible and don't use clumsy constructions.
>
>From RISC OS 3.0 maybe! For me, with RISC OS 2 it's a helluva difference. I
>like the multitasking filer/formatter. I like the Pinboard. I like the
>extensions to the filer menu - and don't forget, if multitasking filing
>operations are too slow for you, you can click on menu and select 'Faster'.
>

I think you misunderstood: he means that in *speed terms* nothing has changed
a lot: see previous postings from outside Acorn for confirmation.

>Now if only I could work out why my SCSI has stopped working (whimper).

I must sympathise; when my card went down I did miss it rather a lot!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
From: merlin@maths.tcd.ie (Merlin Hughes)
Subject: Archimedes Logo & Sesame Street
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 12:46:00 GMT

A good few of you probably remember the arc 'A' logo that Acorn
used before they dropped the Archimedes name. Well, how many of
you know where it came from?

Just now, I was watching Sesame Street .. er, I mean, a friend was
watching it. (He's young.) Anyway, they were teaching me .. him
about the letter 'A'. Strangely enough, it was a white letter A..
On a cyan background.. With a red triangle inside the A at the
top..  And the rest of the inside was yellow.

Now we know where Acorn get their inspiration! I'm waiting for the
lesson on low-power RISC processors next..

M.
From: michaeld@blade (Michael-Dennis Biemans)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Where can I get an A4000/A5000 for a reasonable price ?
Date: 11 Sep 92 14:37:02 GMT
Organization: MCGV Stack, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

I want to buy either an A4000 or an A5000, but I think the prices in 
The Netherlands are too high. (about 2070 quid for the A5000HD +
multisync system) Can I get a better deal in the UK ? (by mail order?)
If so,  can you give me some details ?

	Michael-Dennis Biemans

BTW: VAT is included in the 2070 quid I mentioned.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
PC-Owner: I've just upgraded my system from a 486-25 to a 486dx2-50
Arc-User: And does it work ?
PC-Owner: Yes, my system crashes twice as much now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: zzassgl@uts.mcc.ac.uk (Geoff Lane)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: ARcterm7 and KA9Q
Date: 9 Sep 92 08:36:11 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre, Manchester, England, M13 9PL.



This discussion is interesting -- could someone let us have some background
details on KA9Q and running things like SLIP and PPP on the ARC?



-- 
Geoff. Lane.                                  Janet: zzassgl@uk.ac.mcc.uts
UTS Sys Admin, Manchester Computing Centre, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PL
From: ojg@crosfield.co.uk (oliver gunasekara)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: A5000 NS
Date: 7 Sep 92 13:13:22 GMT
Organization: Crosfield Electronics, Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom.

A few questions. Mainly aimed at Acorn.

Is the Ethernet hardware on the A5000 NS on a podule, ie it uses a
podule expansion slot? 

Does the A5000 NS come with any software to drive ethernet (TCP/IP or AUN)? 

Does RISC OS 3.1 !Config surport ethernet? 

I have ordered an A5000 NS from my dealer, (The DataStore) how long
will I have to wait?

On another note. My Mum bought an A3010 Family Solution last week for
her self (DTP) and my sister to use (A levels). I must say How
impressed I was with the quality of the manuals espically the welcome
guide. The audio tapes are great for my Mum who has never used a
computer before, as is RISC OS 3.10. 

How long before the memory upgrades are avilable for the A3010. If
they are just simms can I upgrade it myself? There do not seem to be 
any links for the memory size so does the A3010 auto sense the amount 
of memory in the machine?

From using the A3010 and RISC OS 3.10 ie ho harddisk, I realy like the
auto disk detection. Whey you take a disk out of the drive the machine
then polls for a new disk. But this only seems to happen when you have
a message from RISC OS to insert a disk. Is it possible to write some
code to poll the floppy drive only when the drive is empty and then to
display the disc's directory display automatically. This would be
realy useful on a floppy only system.

One annoning feature of the A3010 is that the PSU seemes to buzz. Is
this ment to happen? If I tap the computers case it stops!

On the whole I think the A3010 is an great home computer. The main
advantage being very easy to use due to RISC OS. Well done Acorn.

Could some one post the difference betwwen the Acorn Pocket book and
the Psion series 3. Does the Acorn pocket book come with a spelling
checker? How long before we can buy an Acorn pockey book?


	Oly.
-- 
|  /|Oliver Gunasekara BEng (Hons) | InterNET   ojg@crosfield.co.uk  | Acorns |
| /-|Crosfield Electronics Limited | JANET      ojg@uk.co.crosfield  | 32-bit |
|/  |  R&D Diagnostics Engineer    | phone  +44 (0442) 230000 x3853  |  ARM   |
|  *** Prune Juice - a warriors drink ---> ST TNG Yesterdays Enterprise ***