From: CCSCHR@UWOCC1.UWO.CA (Chuck Reid - x5992)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Subject: Portfolio - Plea for help/bug fixes.
Date: 6 Apr 92 17:23:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: uwovax.0702566927


 
I have a friend who seems to have had much trouble with her Portfolio
due to bugs in the version of OS included with the machine. If anyone
has any comments or suggestions about her misfourtunes, I would
appreciate a message back. Is there any other outlets which I might
direct this "plea for help" regarding the PF. I am an infrequent
reader of this newsgroup, at best, please send any responses to me
directly at:  CCSCHR@UWOCC1.UWO.CA
 
Has Atari addressed any problems with OS patches or the like? If so,
where might I find these?
 
Below is her problem description for you to consider:
 
    I bought an Atari Portfolio and discovered a warning in the
package which warned me not to space and return at the end of any
files, before saving in the text editor.  Well, of course I managed
to do this and I followed the instruction on the warning which was
to cold boot. I did  this and while I lost everything, I started
again from scratch  thinking I was at least a wiser person.  Well,
I was wrong and I  managed to do it again and rather than lose
everything I hadn't  downloaded I thought I'd see if I had any
other options so I called  the store where I bought my portfolio.
They called Atari and gave me  the following instructions: press
Ctrl Alt Del and at the c>prompt  type copy con, then get the file
that caused the problem and delete  the space.  I did the warm boot
and got the c> prompt, but when I tried to enter anything the
machine went into spitting out everything on the screen. So I went
back to the cold boot and when everything started and I did a
directory there was only ~33,000 bytes free and there were no
files.  I tried another cold boot, reset and left the batteries out
overnight and nothing changed-I lost ~30,000 bytes of  memory.
    I took my machine back to the store and they gave me a brand
new  one.  Well, this one had no warning in the book and I asked
them if  this was a new and improved version and they thought maybe
it was.  Their attitude did not inspire confidence, so before I
put much in, I  intentionally spaced and returned at the end of a
file and it locked  up as usual.  I warm booted, and again was left
with only 33,000 bytes.  The store could not replace this one for
a few weeks so I did  fdisk 64,000 and seemed to work okay.  A few
weeks later I got my "new" portfolio, (which had a red dot on the
back) and when I turned  it on it had 33,000 bytes free with no
files.  I did another fdisk 64  and decided that they had worn me
down and I would work with what I've got.
     A few weeks later I got a low battery warning and after I
replaced the batteries I had a couple of scrambled and inaccessible
files.  One file got renamed |yerle.txt (It was eberle.txt) and
when  I did a directory I found that where the eberle file was it
says 3735891 under size.  I  cannot access the |yerle.txt file to
use, fix or delete.
     Another file that screwed up was an adress file.  It was
called generic.adr and now when I ask for a list of files to load
it comes up written as generic.`picture of a sad face'dr. It is the
right size when I do a directory, but it is taking up 2500 bytes
of memory that  I can't access or delete.  When I try to load or
delete either of these files it says file not found. I have not
tried a warm boot or a  cold boot or reset to start all over again.
      The upshot of this long, sad story is that I am hoping
someone out there will have some way of:
 1. fixing or deleting my two scrambled files without starting all
    over again with a cold boot then reloading everything
 2. MOST IMPORTANTLY, does anyone have a fix for the space/return
    glitch
 3. Does anyone know how to retrieve my missing memory?
 4. Any advice about whether I should still try and get another new
    portfolio.  Even with all the problems, I still use the one I
    have got and don't really want to be without one.  Do I need
    therapy?    THANKS FOR ANY HELP
 
Chuck Reid.