HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539)
Subject: Re: WARNING!!!! major problem with vi and possibly every other app around! (was: help I don't understand write caches like smartdrive 3.1)
Organization: Texas Instruments Inc
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 17:19:35 GMT

In <1440@frackit.UUCP> dave@frackit.UUCP (Dave Ratcliffe) writes:

>In article <1992Aug14.232515.5824@cco.caltech.edu>, nyet@cco.caltech.edu (n liu) writes:
>> The other day I was editing a file with vi and I quit using :q!
>> 
>> I lost ALL my changes!!!! 

>Assuming this is not a great cosmic joke....  (seeing no smileys, he
>stumbles forward..)

>>I belive this to be a major problem with vi.

>Only if you fail to RTFM before using it. Well, that's not exactly fair,
>you MUST have read the manual or you wouldn't have known about :q!. I
>suggest you go BACK to the manual and read up on ways to exit vi. You'll
>see that you told vi to do just what it did, exit unconditionally
>without saving anything. 

>Next time, try using the write-buffer-and-exit command, :wq

>> I've heard lots of other programs do this too.

>Only to those who fail to RTFM completely. This is what we call an
>"Operator Malfunction: Failure to properly read and absorb the friggin' 
>docs :) "

>(aside).... Where DO they come from.....

Uh, I think this was exactly the point that the original poster was
trying to make (with regard to the Great SmartDrive WriteBack
Scandal).  If they read the docs it TOLD them how it acted and what to
do about it.  If they tell you that if you pull the power before the
cache is written that you are going to have problems and you DO pull
power before the cache is written and you DO have problems, should you
be surprised?

[If you type q! to exit vi and it doesn't save your changes, should
you be surprised?]


-- 
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: fox@rei.com (Fuzzy Fox)
Subject: Re: low level format
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 00:42:28 GMT
Organization: Recognition Equipment, Inc.

gt6502a@prism.gatech.EDU (gt6502a BLAKE,JASON) writes:

>	Does anyone out there know if it is possible to obtain previous data 
>from an IDE hard drive that has been low level formatted?

You can't low-level format an IDE drive.

-- 
#ifdef TRUE         | Fuzzy Fox                  fuzzy@netcom.com
#define  TRUE   0   | a.k.a. David DeSimone      an207@cleveland.freenet.edu
#define  FALSE  1   |
#endif              |         How's my posting?  Call 1-800-ALT-FLAME
From: prpst2+@pitt.edu (Paul R Perdeus)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: MCA bus problem
Date: 27 Aug 92 20:27:22 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: prpst2@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

Hello all,

      I'm sorry for the cross posts, but I can't remember where I got the
      answer from the first time!  A month or so ago I wrote in about a
      problem with Win3.1 and WFW 2.0.  One of the problems I was having
      was that any time I would run the dos prompt or any dos application
      I would get the following message:

                                  System Error

                   Microchannel bus timeout error detected.
                   System halted...

      I posted this (along with other problems) to these newsgroups and one
      of the responses I got told me to put a line in my win.ini or system.ini
      files that said something about MCAxxxxx=off or something like that.
      From what I remember (my system crashed shortly after that due to an
      unrelated problem and I lost everything!) it seemed to have done the
      trick.  I think it got rid of the error.  I am hoping to get someone to
      fill in the 'x' 's above.  I'm using a PS/2 model 55.  I would greatly
      appreciate it if someone could help me.  Any other suggestions on this
      problem would also be appreciated.

                                                thanks a lot!

                                                       Paul

      p.s. A reply to this group is fine or email at:

                                    prpst2@unix.cis.pitt.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: alex@mistral.vta.mw.tu-muenchen.de (Alex Farny)
Subject: Keyboard-Input from File
Reply-To: wolfgg@urmel.vta.mw.tu-muenchen.de
Organization: Lehrstuhl A fuer Verfahrenstechnik (Inst. Chem. Engng.), TU Munich, Germany
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 13:46:03 GMT

hi netters,

my problem is to convert a couple of date to a new system.
I am able to read the old system.
The system uses Btrieve but there is no way to use the butil -load ... util.

My hope is to create the keyboard-input like one would type hack it in.

My answer:
Is there a way to pipe (or get them from a redirected file) the
F5 and the F10-FunctionKey ????

I tried some input using a pipe and redircting input.
The system did the work, but couldn't read the F5 and F10 keys.
(These keys mean "new" and "save" and there is no other way to access 
these functions than clicking with the mouse). 

Thanks a lot for your help.
Alex Farny
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: hurd@fraser.sfu.ca (Peter L. Hurd)
Subject: Re: CONFIG.SYS tactics
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 21:05:25 GMT

dave@frackit.UUCP (Dave Ratcliffe) writes:

>In article <4LDiPB1w165w@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca>, chrisr@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Chris Ringe) writes:
>> rdhunt@triton.unm.edu () writes:
>> 
>> - Since my PC is soooo fast I need a program and/or tip on how
>> - to capture the screen output when booting the CONFIG.SYS file.
>> - (i.e. Can I redirect CONFIG.SYS output to a file?)

As a DOS moron, let me suggest a pause statement very early on in your
Autoexec.bat.  Time waster when booting you say, less time wasting that
fiddling around with reading a piped output I say.
-- 
-- Pete Hurd, hurd@sfu.ca          | The student should guard against any
Behavioural Ecology Research Group |   tendency to diphthongize the Swedish
Dept.Biol.Sci., Simon Fraser Univ. |   long vowels - R.J. McClean
Burnaby B.C. V5A 1S6 Canada        | Don't pseudoverbize nouns! - P.L. Hurd
From: walkerd@pegasus ( ipg)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: DOS for embedded controller
Date: 25 Aug 92 19:13:20 GMT
Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada.

I have heard that it may be possible to get a version of DOS which I can
run on an embedded controller (Intel of course).  Has anyone else heard
of this?  Can you give me company contacts so that I can get more
information?

I would like to use DOS so that I can use pre-written ASPI or CAM SCSI
device driver modules.  I would like to strip out allof the non-disk
associated utilities (ie. keyboard, video, etc) from the DOS.

Is there anything like this, or am I just dreaming?

Please reply by mail,if possible.

Thanks,
Doug
From: cooper@hpfcse.HP.COM ( Larry Cooper)
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 04:38:31 GMT
Subject: Sources for Handicapped Interfaces ?
Organization: Hewlett Packard Co.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc

I am presently involved in a little volunteer work to try and help
a physically handicapped person gain a little access to the outside
world through the use of a PC and a modem.  The problem I've run
into is trying to locate suppliers and/or manufacturers for the
specialized input devices that would be required.  Since this
particular person is paralyzed from the neck down with no head
momement and requires a respirator tube in his mouth, the possible
solutions have become very limited.  One possible solution would be
a limited form of voice recognition interface to replace the
keyboard.  This would at least allow BBS access and such things as
Prodigy.  If anyone has any information on possible sources of PC
interfaces for the handicapped and/or voice recognition
alternatives it would be greatly appreciated !!

Regards,  Larry Cooper
 
          cooper@a4442u7a.esr.hp.com
From: Deon.Strydom@p16.f1.n7104.z5.fidonet.org (Deon Strydom)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: Windows Enhanced Mode + UMB's is it possible?
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92 06:42:34 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 5:7104/1.16 - The Catalyst BBS 1, Port Elizabeth

In a message of <Sep 01 21:07>, Fuzzy Fox (5:7104/2) wrote to All:

 FF> From: fox@rei.com (Fuzzy Fox)

>The docs of UMB_DRVR clearly states that it doesn't work with Windows.

 FF> The docs should be amended to say that it does not work too well 
 FF> with Windows 3.0.  I run Windows 3.1 with UMB_DRVR all the time, and 

Interesting Fuzzy.  BTW, I ran a few tests on memory speed the other day, and it makes intersting reading, for me anyway ;-)

BTW, PC Magazine Benchmarks ver 6.0 was used.

Test machine was a 16Mhz 386SX with 4Mb Ram on the motherboard.  All Ram except 
the first 640k is extended that's then converted to expanded, etc.

All results are in kilobytes per second.
                                     MS-DOS 5.0    DOS 5.0 +          
           TESTS                     +  EMM386     UMB_DRVR    DRDOS 
Conventional memory read                1495.61    1381.11    1426.46
Conventional memory write               1495.61    1381.11    1419.40
Expanded memory Read                     488.08      11.77     183.67
Expanded memory Write                    490.89      11.77     184.67

Groetnis (=cheers)
Deon


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INTERNET: Deon.Strydom@p16.f1.n7104.z5.fidonet.org
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       (catpe.alt.za)   +27-41-34-1122 HST or +27-41-34-2859, V32bis & HST.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: rnichols@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (robert.k.nichols)
Subject: Re: Hard drive utility (re-post with corrections)
Summary: Large clusters unavoidable in large partitions
Keywords: cluster partition
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 19:24:52 GMT

In article <1992Aug23.102643.28898@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> as789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Francisco J. Diaz) writes:
>
>Hi All! I'm looking for a utility that can change my sector size
>in my 150 Megs ESDI HD. It is 4k each sector and recently I have
>found that such a size represents a lot of wasted space due to
>all the slack that is left over in tiny. As I understand, even if
>the file is just a few bytes long it will occupy the whole 4k
>sector thereby wasting space. I have been told that I can make
>different partitions to reduce the sector size but I'd rather
>leave it as it is (1 partition) ...

I believe you are referring to CLUSTER size, not SECTOR size.  Last I knew,
BIOS and DOS were pretty well hard-wired to a 512-byte sector size.  Since
a cluster is the minimum allocation unit, though, everything you said is,
in effect, true.

Now for the bad news.  Linking information for the chain of clusters that
contain a file is kept on disk in the File Allocation Table (FAT), which,
on a large hard drive, has a 16-bit entry for each cluster to indicate
the next cluster in the chain.  This means that there can be at most
65518 clusters (64K less a few values which have special meaning).  So,
for a given cluster size, there is a maximum partition size.  DOS requires
that the number of sectors per cluster be a power of 2 (I just verified
that by playing with the boot record on a floppy), so the max partition
sizes for each permissible cluster size are as shown below (in round
numbers):

   Sectors/Cluster  Bytes/Cluster   Max. Partition
	1		 512		 32MB
	2		1024		 64MB
	4		2048		128MB
	8		4096		256MB

Thus, the minimum cluster size for a 150MB drive is 4906 bytes -- just what
you have now.

Splitting the disk into two equal partitions would allow 2048-byte clusters,
which is about as low as you would want to go.  Smaller clusters means
more overhead accessing large files as well as more opportunity for
fragmentation.  In addition, this eats up memory since, while a disk is in
use, DOS keeps the entire FAT in memory.

Perhaps the simplest way to go would be to split the drive into 2
partitions (BACK IT UP FIRST -- a high-level reformat will be required
on each partition).  You can then use the JOIN command to make the
second partition appear as a subdirectory on the first.

Clear as mud, right?

Bob Nichols
rnichols@ihlpm.ih.att.com
From: shakib.otaqui@almac.co.uk
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: ms-dos 5.0 and 'f'ail
Date: 31 Aug 92 12:30:35 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: ALMAC BBS Ltd

DW>   Thank you for all the quick responses!  I found out that simply adding a
  >   '/f' to the shell= line in config.sys will do the trick.

DW>   Here's hoping that works in 4DOS too!

  It does.  You can either put it on the SHELL= line as with
  Command.com, or you can put CritFail=Yes in 4DOS.INI.

  Shakib

 * PQ 2.15 189 * Internet: shakib.otaqui@almac.co.uk
--
ALMAC BBS Ltd. 0324-665371
Dos based USENET access,  call for details!
From: Deon.Strydom@p16.f1.n7104.z5.fidonet.org (Deon Strydom)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: MS-DOS 5.0 and 'F'ailing...
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 92 06:47:30 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 5:7104/1.16 - The Catalyst BBS 1, Port Elizabeth

In a message of <Aug 31 21:53>, David W. Woodward (5:7104/2) wrote to All:

 DWW> I remember reading (several times actually) about an undocumented 
 DWW> switch in
 DWW> DOS 5 that makes it default to a 'F'ail status on bad disk reads, 
 DWW> trying to

Hi David,
In your Config.Sys, where you probably have something like SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P, add /F to the end of the line.

Groetnis


--  
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via:  THE CATALYST BBS in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
       (catpe.alt.za)   +27-41-34-1122 HST or +27-41-34-2859, V32bis & HST.
From: bob@netcom.com (Bob Becker)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: low level format
Date: 2 Sep 92 05:05:26 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <1992Sep2.004228.29293@rei.com> fox@rei.com (Fuzzy Fox) writes:
>gt6502a@prism.gatech.EDU (gt6502a BLAKE,JASON) writes:
>
>>	Does anyone out there know if it is possible to obtain previous data 
>>from an IDE hard drive that has been low level formatted?
>
>You can't low-level format an IDE drive.
>
You can indeed low level format an IDE drive.
You should *NEVER NEVER NEVER* do it, but it can be done.
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: marquis@netcom.com (Roger Marquis)
Subject: Re: WARNING !!!!! MS WINDOWS 3.1 SmartDrive Problem
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 20:03:40 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

In article <1992Aug18.155405.11433@mksol.dseg.ti.com> mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:
>
>Do NOT disable write-caching.  It is totally unnecessary and it will
>indeed slow things down.  Instead, simply fix any BAT files that
>reboot the machine, as noted above.  Other than that, exit to a DOS
>prompt and wait 5 seconds (the default pause time -- buffers will be
>flushed after 5 seconds or when the processor is idle, whichever
>occurs first) before powering down your machine.
>
Fred,

Not disabling write-caching is about as bad a piece of advice as you
can give someone.  I've been a UNIX and DOS systems administrator for
a number of years and from what I've seen the latest version of SMARTDRV 
has caused more lost data than just about any other piece of software
on the market.  It doesn't matter how careful you are about flushing
the cache before shutting down if you use write-caching YOU WILL LOSE
DATA at some point.  The small amount of speed gained will not be
worth it.  Advocating write-caching is on par with recommending
against backups in my book.  Sure you'll save some time here and there
but in the long run ...

Roger (marquis@netcom.com)
From: hippo@sonoma.edu (Michel Davidoff)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: HELP! EMM386 won't work!
Date: 2 Sep 92 18:38:16 GMT
Organization: Sonoma state university

In article <13617.2aa4cc37@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> colovas@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu writes:
>Subject: HELP! EMM386 won't work!
>From: colovas@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
>Date: 2 Sep 92 14:14:15 EDT
>I have a new 486/33 and I'm trying to load things into high/expanded memory,
>but I'm having problems. when I load EMM386, it gives me a message that
>expanded memory services are unavailable. does this not work on a 486 box?
>This is DOS 5, BTW. Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
> 
>________________________________________________
>___________________________________________
>___________________________________
>
>Peter W. Colovas
>Department of Physics
>Ohio State University
>colovas@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
>
Can you give your box configuration Ram ? Config.sys, Autoexec.bat ?
From: sam@ms.uky.edu (Mike Mills)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Backup software recommendations needed
Date: 23 Aug 92 21:29:22 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

Hello,

I'm looking for a backup program that will do the following:

1.  Backup to a file (this file will actually reside on an NFS filesystem,
    where it will be backed up to tape using Unix dump facilities.)
2.  Preferrably run as a TSR (or perhaps I could use a small cron-like
    utility to start it...in either case, it must be stable so that it
    doesn't crash the system.)
3.  Preferrably public domain or shareware

I've found a number of public domain ones on wuarchive, however I have no
idea which are the best.

Thanks,

-- 
--Mike Mills              E-Mail:  sam@ms.uky.edu, {rutgers, uunet}!ukma!sam
--UK Math Sciences Dept.                  mike@ukpr.uky.edu    
--(606) 257-1429 (work) 263-0721 (home)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mike J. Brown)
Subject: Upgrading 286 to 386: Do I need new RAM?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 00:21:14 GMT

(insert usual "hope this isn't a FAQ" disclaimer here)

I have a Laser 286/2, 12MHz, and am thinking about getting a new
motherboard for it.  If I get a 386 motherboard, will my old RAM
work in it?  Please help!
-- 
Mike Brown
mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
"The Universe is a spheroid region 705 meters in diameter."
From: esr@unixhub.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Edwin S. Russell)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Irritating copyright drivel in DRDOS
Date: 28 Aug 92 19:56:46 GMT

I recently installed DRDOS 6.0 and have been pleased with it, so far.   
However, after certain kinds of commands, batch files, whatever, one gets  
three lines of DRDOS 6.0; Copyright blah blah blah; All rights reserved;  
displayed on the screen.  I find this annoying, especially when several  
commands in succession fill the screen with this garbage.  (Yes, thank you, I  
purchased the product.  I know what version it is and that it's copyrighted  
but I don't need to be reminded of that after bootup.)  

Does anyone know how to prevent this crap from coming out every time a  
command/batchfile/whatever exits?
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: fox@rei.com (Fuzzy Fox)
Subject: Re: MS-DOS 5.0 and 'F'ailing...
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 00:13:10 GMT
Organization: Recognition Equipment, Inc.

dww2@po.CWRU.Edu (David W. Woodward) writes:

>I remember reading (several times actually) about an undocumented switch in
>DOS 5 that makes it default to a 'F'ail status on bad disk reads, trying to
>read a floppy with the door open, etc.

You put the switch on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS:

SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /F

-- 
#ifdef TRUE         | Fuzzy Fox                  fuzzy@netcom.com
#define  TRUE   0   | a.k.a. David DeSimone      an207@cleveland.freenet.edu
#define  FALSE  1   |
#endif              |         How's my posting?  Call 1-800-ALT-FLAME
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)
Subject: Re: Batch command file parameter question
Organization: University of Vaasa, Finland
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 17:29:12 GMT

In article <64900@cup.portal.com> compata@cup.portal.com (David H Close) writes:
>	> q "one two" three
>	"one
>	two"
>	three
>Is there no way to make this foolish operating system recognize a quoted
>string and treat it as a single parameter?  Alternatively, is there any

Not really, but you can easily make combine parameters into
environment variables:
 @echo off    
 set tmp=%1 %2 
 echo %tmp%   

To make if a but more general you can utilize the shift command. 
But the quotes are not on.

..................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi
Moderating at garbo.uwasa.fi anonymous FTP archives 128.214.87.1
Faculty of Accounting & Industrial Management; University of Vaasa
Internet: ts@uwasa.fi Bitnet: salmi@finfun   ; SF-65101, Finland
From: hippo@sonoma.edu (Michel Davidoff)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: lptswap
Date: 28 Aug 92 19:02:36 GMT
Organization: Sonoma state university

I just found a program called Lptswap.com at ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.5.59) 
I think this will swap lptX to lptY 
Where can I get some docs about this, or does anybody know how it works ?
I'm trying to swap LPT2 with LPT3

Thanks 
Michel
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
From: goldrick@ug.cs.dal.ca (Majeed  Goldrick)
Subject: Re: MS-DOS 5.0 and 'F'ailing
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 22:26:24 GMT


>I remember reading (several times actually) about an undocumented switch in
>DOS 5 that makes it default to a 'F'ail status on bad disk reads, trying to
>read a floppy with the door open, etc.  Now, I need to know how to do that,
>and of COURSE, I can't find the references.  Can anybody help me?  Thanks!

The switch you refer to is the /f switch for command.com.  I saw it in
a recent issue (This month's?) PC/Computing.


Majeed.

Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc,comp.os.msdos.apps,comp.ibm.pc.misc
From: regeorge@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Robert E George)
Subject: KeyMAP from MicroSpeed?
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 00:52:47 GMT



If anybody is aware of the price/availability of KeyMAP from MicroSpeed
(a program which lets one use a mouse in environments which otherwise
do not support a mouse), or if anybody is aware of a similar program,
please let me know via email .

Thanks,
Robert George
From: mickeyf@vnet.ibm.com (Mickey Ferguson)
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 10:28:55 PDT
Newsgroups: in.pc,comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: Reboot a PC from a batch file.
Organization: Rolm
Disclaimer: This note represents my views, not those of Rolm or IBM
News-Software: UReply 3.0

If you are a 4DOS user, it comes with a built-in command called REBOOT.

Mickey Ferguson -- Rolm -- FergusoM at scrvm2 -- mickeyf@vnet.ibm.com
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc