Rainbow EchoMail Digest
George A. Theall
In this issue:
DIGITIZER ON RAINBOW
RE: SUITABLE SOLUTIONS
RE: DEC STUFF
FORAY
RE: SEDT V4 (2 messages)
RE: Z80 (2 messages)
CHECK
Z80
RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5 (2 messages)
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12-26-89 (09:41)
To: ALL
Subject: DIGITIZER ON RAINBOW
From: JOHN DENNER
DOES ANYONE KNOW IF A SUMMAGRAPHICS 9X6 MM SERIES DIGITIZER CAN BE USED
WITH A RAINBOW?
---
* Origin: Midnight DEC - The place for DEC sales & information (Opus 1:101/45)
------------------------------
Date: 12-27-89 (13:34)
To: GEORGE TURNER
Subject: RE: SUITABLE SOLUTIONS
From: DAVID HUGHES
Ok, tx for the address.
david
--- QuickBBS v2.61 [EVALUATION]
* Origin: The CS-DEPOT BBS System (719)550-9305 (1:128/58.0)
------------------------------
Date: 12-27-89 (13:37)
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RE: DEC STUFF
From: DAVID HUGHES
Tx for the extensive information. I like my bow and want to hang on to it,
if even just to type on.
Your info however gave me some options that are interesting.
New question (which I am sur is overused, abused, and hopefully excused):
Is there a software printer spooler out there that works on the Rainbow?
Where can I grab if such a one exists. had seen them before, but the ones
I downloaded (3 years ago?) never worked.
david
--- QuickBBS v2.61 [EVALUATION]
* Origin: The CS-DEPOT BBS System (719)550-9305 (1:128/58.0)
------------------------------
Date: 12-25-89 (04:35)
To: MARK BORNSTEIN
Subject: FORAY
From: BRUCE JACKSON
Wow. I haven't visited the Rainbow echo for a while and I just read the
string of messages from Geoff Reed, George Theall, David Strickler, and
Mark Bornstein. I know people often go crazy at funerals but this is the
first time I've seen people going berserk over a petty financial
transaction for a moribund computer line. I don't know Reed and Theall,
but I know the other messages writers and I keep getting the feeling
there is something going on here that exists outside the texts.
Mark Bornstein is the only dealer in computerland who has always dealt
with people on the basis of a telephone handshake: you call, you talk,
and he sends stuff out. Give him a good story and he'll even wait a long
time for the check. Say something is bad, say you don't like it, say
your dog doesn't like it, and he'll take it back with no argument. He
says what he thinks, a virtue some people don't much like, and he's
straight in his business dealings, a characteristic some people don't
recognize. So what's all the fuss? And why all the heat? From what I
read here, it seems some guy stiffed Mark and Mark said so, and as a
result other people are jumping on Mark. I'd think other people would
thank him so they'd know to be wary. Merry Christmas, gang.
------------------------------
Date: 12-28-89 (20:02)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: SEDT V4
From: KEVIN PORTER
FM> Do you have a copy of SEDT4DOS that includes MAPKEY for the Rainbow?
Anker tells me he is sending another baselevel (27x ?) to SDN for
distribution which has many bugs squashed... keep your eyes peeled for
that to come sailing "down the pipe" any day now...
- Kevin R. Porter
WayStar BBS
--- OPMED 2.00
* Origin: WayStar BBS (1:322/14)
------------------------------
Date: 12-28-89 (20:06)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: Z80
From: KEVIN PORTER
* Reply on a message originally to Carl Houseman
FM> I bought a 6MHz Z80 and plugged it into the 'bow. Works fine, but it
FM> doesn't obviate the need for the boot ROM mod for use with the V20.
FM> I've got to run some benchmarks before I can tell whether a faster Z80 has
FM> any benefits at all in the 'bow.
I doubt that simply plugging in a faster rated Z80 uProcessor chip would
have any noticable effect unless you ALSO increased the system clock rate,
which would be likely to bring out a whole hornets nest of timing issues.
--- OPMED 2.00
* Origin: WayStar BBS (1:322/14)
------------------------------
Date: 12-29-89 (00:02)
To: MARK BORNSTEIN
Subject: CHECK
From: RICHARD KENADEK
Hey Mark
Did you ever get that check that Jeoff Reed promised to send you from 2 years
ago????
Just wondering if that dead beat ever paid up or not.
--- D'Bridge 1.30/001353
* Origin: Davy Jones Locker-W. Millbury Ma. 592 Megs On Line (1:322/560)
------------------------------
Date: 12-27-89
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: Z80
From: GORDON GREEN
> I bought a 6MHz Z80 and plugged it into the 'bow. Works fine, but it
> doesn't obviate the need for the boot ROM mod for use with the V20.
>
> I've got to run some benchmarks before I can tell whether a faster Z80 has
> any benefits at all in the 'bow.
>
The 6 mHz Z80 just means that the chip can handle a clock rate up to 6 mHz.
Plugging it into a Raimbow does not change the Rainbow clock rate, and the
new Z80 still needs the same number of clock ticks for its instructions
as did the old one, hence, no change in speed. The V20 on the other hand
uses fewer clock ticks than does an 8080 for many of its instructions, hence
it does result in faster operation, and hence the need for the ROM mod.
Hope this helps.
--- QM v1.00
* Origin: GG's_point of Cuckoo's Nest : Hudson, NH : HST (1:132/119.1)
------------------------------
Date: 12-29-89 (07:30)
To: KEVIN PORTER
Subject: RE: SEDT V4
From: FRANK MALLORY
> Anker tells me he is sending another baselevel (27x ?)
> to SDN for
> distribution which has many bugs squashed... keep your
> eyes peeled for
Thanks, Kevin; I'll be on the watch for it. Got a note yesterday from Anker
acknowledging my contribution and saying that I could get it direct from
him; but I'd rather not bother him.
It turns out that the spurious screen stuff put up by (260) is more than
a minor annoyance, because you can end up editing the wrong line in some
cases if you fail to give ctrl-w to reset the screen.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/1
------------------------------
Date: 12-29-89 (07:40)
To: KEVIN PORTER
Subject: RE: Z80
From: FRANK MALLORY
> I doubt that simply plugging in a faster rated Z80 uProcessor chip would
> have any noticable effect unless you ALSO increased the system clock rate,
> which would be likely to bring out a whole hornets nest
It appears you are correct, Kevin. I ran the complete v2.0 diagnostic before
and after and found no significant time difference. But for only $2.75,
I figured it was worth a try.
Nothing to do with the Z80, but the BENCH53 test rates my machine at 515
Dhrystones and 4481 Whetstones/sec. If anyone has the figures for the Turbow,
I would like to know them.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/1
------------------------------
Date: 12-29-89 (07:56)
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5
From: FRANK MALLORY
>
> Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you'll have
> to manually piece
> the parts together then. There should have been 3 parts,
I did that. UUDECODE appeared to run OK, but the resultant ZIP was no good.
If you can do it all in one piece, how about uuencoding Marks' program and
sending it to me?
BTW, the last uuencoded file I sent you was 14k in length; so we know the
system can handle messages up to that length, at least.
> ---
> EZ 1.234 #263 Unrecognized faults lead to wasted
> efforts
Do you have a Fortune Cookie program piping input to your tear line now,
George? :-)
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/1
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89 (10:20)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5
From: GEORGE THEALL
FM>UUDECODE appeared to run OK, but the resultant ZIP was no good.
FM>If you can do it all in one piece, how about uuencoding Marks' program and
FM>sending it to me?
I think that would be a bad idea. If the ZIP came out corrupted, at
least you found out before attempting to run a program. What would
happen if I sent the executables for Marks' UUENCODE/UUDECODE?
Which version of PKZIP did you use? The ZIP file was created on my
end with PKZIP v1.02. The imploding method, new to v1.x, was used.
How was the file corrupted? What error messages did PKUNZIP provide?
Did you check to see whether trailing blanks were striped out of the
encoded file by a mailer somewhere? How many lines were there in the
encoded file? There should have been 314 lines, counting all those
between "begin" and "end".
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ TXIRRINGAK? Bai, eskerrik asko!
------------------------------
George A. Theall
In this issue:
FIDONET GATEWAYS
CONCURRENT DOS 386
PIXIE
Z80
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89 (11:13)
To: ALL
Subject: FIDONET GATEWAYS
From: GEORGE THEALL
A friend of my recently passed along the following list from David
Dodell (1:114/15) who runs one of the gateways between FidoNet and the
Internet. I hope this is not already common knowledge.
Apparently, this list of gateways is updated almost daily but should
be largely correct. Is anyone interested in keeping this up to date and
posting it, say, once a month here? BTW: this is a list only of valid,
working nodes. Those classified as illegal, deleted, or on probation
have been deleted by me.
Has anyone been successful in retrieving files from the
INFO-DEC-MICRO file archives using one of these gateways?
George
----- snip, snip, snip -----
The number(s) in the [] is/are the net/region/zone numbers that node is
authorized or applying (for non-cool nodes) to gate for. The node is
authorized to gate for only that/those nets. * means they are
authorized to have the GInternet flag in the nodelist. This file is
built from the maps I have. If something is incorrect, Send Map(tm). a
"." in front of the system name means that they have passed Lisa's
FUGATE test. a "'" means they have passed my ufgate test, and a "!"
means that both tests have been passed.
Cool nodes:
.bibs 372/42 * [ 360, 372 ]
.bigtime 152/201 * [ 152 ]
.blkcat 109/401 * [ 109 ]
.bmug 161/445 [ none ]
.branch 369/11 * [ 135, 369, 3609 ]
.busker 105/14 * [ 17, 40, 105, 345 ]
canyon 104/116 [ none ]
.casino 2:515/800 * [ 2:504, 2:515 ]
.cast 143/3 * [ 143 ]
circle 121/1 * [ 121 ]
camphq 143/42 * [ 143 ]
.cmhgate 226/20 * [ 226 ]
conch 135/43 [ none ]
.dawggon 105/6 [ none ]
.eastern 223/228 [ none ]
.ehsnet 233/13 * [ 233 ]
fidogate 125/406 * [ 125, 161 ]
gisatl 133/411 * [ 133 ]
hndymn 114/30 [ none ]
hogbbs 129/87 * [ 13, 129 ]
.insight 129/65 [ none ]
isishq 163/162 * [ 163, 167, 225 ]
kicki.stacken.kth.se [ zone 2 default gateway, not a fidonode ]
.klbbs 141/370 * [ 141 ]
.legion 105/50 [ none ]
mailcom 204/444 * [ 204 ]
.mamab 363/9 * [ 363 ]
.masnet 250/410 [ 250 ]
.mcastl 107/528 [ none ]
metnet 147/10 * [ (19), 147 ]
newport 107/820 * [ 107 ]
.ofa123 102/161 * [ 102, 103 ]
ohiont 157/512 * [ 157 ]
orioneb 141/705 [ none ]
.pacifier 105/101 [ none ]
palind 124/3107 [ none ]
.paranet 104/422 * [ 104 ]
.puddle 105/42 * [ 2,3,4,5, 17, 134, 138, 153, 340, 344, 345, 346, 347 ]
.quadrant 105/209 [ none ]
real 342/1 * [ 342 ]
.rubbs - >> newport
.rwp 342/9 [ none ]
.sscreen 141/9 [ none ]
.stjhmc 114/15 * [ 1, 114, default gateway for all un-gated nets ]
.terrabit 282/341 * [ 282 ]
.tlsi 124/2202 * [ 124, 130 ] (formerly muadib)
'tqc 382/31 * [ 382 ]
.urchin 106/889 * [ 106 ] ************ SEND MAP ****************
usaos 109/998 [ none ]
.weyr 140/22 * [ 140 ]
.zorro9 16/390 * [ 16, 101, 322 ]
.zswamp 221/171 * [ 12, 163, 167, 221, 222, 225, 229, 240, ]
nodes in strange state (new - waiting for tests to be passed, etc)
hnews (new node) 141/420 [ none ]
(mail comes back with: <hcap!hnews!postmaster@talcott>... Host unknown)
.linkit (new node) 106/7873 [ 106 ]
livewire (new node) 362/130 [ 362, 18 ]
srbbs (new node) 120/969 [ 120 ]
treasure (new node) 140/51 [ none ]
----------------------------
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Every man has his price
------------------------------
Date: 12-28-89
To: VERNON BAILEY
Subject: CONCURRENT DOS 386
From: DAVID STRICKLER
Interesting stuff. I'll try and find out as much as I can...
David Strickler
Sysop of 101/45
Midnight DEC (Boston)
(617)739-0708 [Voice]
--- msged 1.99S ZTC
* Origin: Midnight DEC (1:101/45)
------------------------------
Date: 12-28-89
To: GEOFF REED
Subject: PIXIE
From: DAVID STRICKLER
In a message of <18 Dec 89 22:45:48>, Geoff Reed (1:343/3) writes:
GR> Sorry dave, Didn't mean to offend (if I did) Anyways, I killed the
GR>1.bbs files that opus created and now pixie won't work on my system
GR>without crashing (locks the machine up)
Offend? Not you, just Mark. The Pixie I have on this end seems VERY old.
I'll look for another version.
David Strickler
Sysop of 101/45
Midnight DEC (Boston)
(617)739-0708 [Voice]
--- msged 1.99S ZTC
* Origin: Midnight DEC (1:101/45)
------------------------------
Date: 12-29-89
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: Z80
From: GEORGE DAHLCO, SYSOP 102/
In a message of <Dec 27 12:29>, Frank Mallory (1:109/123) writes:
FM>I bought a 6MHz Z80 and plugged it into the 'bow. Works fine, but it
FM>doesn't obviate the need for the boot ROM mod for use with the V20.
FM>I've got to run some benchmarks before I can tell whether a faster Z80
FM>has any benefits at all in the 'bow.
Frank,
Don't expect too much - your master clock speed is still 4.77MHz. The new
geartrain might be able to take it but if you can't increase the rev's you'll
never see the horsepower increase :-)
It *could*, however, run cooler, and may have some microcode refinements
which might speed up some instruction execution. Let us know the results
of your tests.
Happy New Year...
-George, 102/138-
--- msged 1.999
* Origin: Western Region VAX EC, RAINBOW/PDP-11 Echo Hub (1:102/138.1)
------------------------------
George A. Theall
In this issue:
CP/M SALES-PITCH
RE: Z80
NULL MODEM
RAINDOS V1.0 (2 messages)
Z80
RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5 (2 messages)
FORMAT
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: CP/M SALES-PITCH
From: PAUL OLSON
Frank,
Thanks for the reply. No sales pitch was intended. When I received my IDRIVE,
the IFORMAT program was CP/M only. I do seem to have heard that Suitable
is now providing IFORMAT in DOS format. The 'bow to IBM disk which I was
referring to is a special disk which Caroline Mack asked me to put together.
Unfortunately (for DOS users), the most convenient way to distribute all
the files was on the CP/M side of the world as DOSFLX is PD, while I don't
know if RDCPM (as supplied with DOS) is PD. At least I hadn't seen that
it was. Since there are a lot of folks running 2.01 DOS, I couldn't be
sure that everyone had RDCPM. I know that the individual files are available
on other WARUG disks, but Caroline was putting together a special 'bow-IBM
product. I'm not sure if she ever advertised it in the RAINBOW NEWS. I
know she is still selling it. Interestingly enough, in the last four months
I have received a number of calls from folks doing that transfer. I was
chairman of WARUG recently, and DEC is still giving out my name as a Rainbow
resource! <:-O
As Always,
Paul
--- ConfMail V3.31
* Origin: The Pot of Gold - (703-359-6549) (1:109/103)
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89 (12:13)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: Z80
From: CARL HOUSEMAN
As others have said and you've found, faster parts do not a faster 'bow
make. It's like putting 91 octane into a car designed to run fine on 87
(presuming it doesn't have a knock sensor).
The V20 vs. 8088 makes a difference because the chips' INTERNAL timing
for specific operations is different. The V20 can do more work than the
8088 in the same number of 4.77 Mhz clock cycles.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89 (13:27)
To: ALL
Subject: NULL MODEM
From: PATRICK FINK
Could someone tell me what pins to swith to make a null modem adapter?
-pat
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RAINDOS V1.0
From: FRANK MALLORY
GT> Does anyone know whether RX50 will work on an XT-class machine?
GT> Or how common it is to find XT's with 1.2MB drives in them?
XTs with 1.2MB drives are not very common. You need the proper controller
card and DOS version in addition to the hi-density drive itself.
I don't see any advantage in RainDOS over RX50.
If somebody REALLY wanted to do the Rainbow community a favor, they would
figure out a way to let us replace our RX50 drives with RX33s.
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123)
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89
To: GEORGE DAHLCO, SYSOP 102/
Subject: Z80
From: FRANK MALLORY
GD> Don't expect too much - your master clock speed is still 4.77MHz. The
GD> new geartrain might be able to take it but if you can't increase the
GD> rev's you'll never see the horsepower increase :-)
GD>
GD> It *could*, however, run cooler, and may have some microcode
GD> refinements which might speed up some instruction execution. Let us
GD> know the results of your tests.
GD>
GD> Happy New Year...
GD>
GD> -George, 102/138-
GD>
GD> --- msged 1.999
The jury's not in altogether, yet.
Hey, George: Do you have MSGED 1.999 working on a Rainbow?
Happy New Year to you and all other Rainbow diehards here.
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123)
------------------------------
Date: 12-31-89
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5
From: FRANK MALLORY
GT> FM>If you can do it all in one piece, how about uuencoding Marks'
GT> FM>program and
GT> FM>sending it to me?
GT>
GT> I think that would be a bad idea. If the ZIP came out corrupted, at
GT> least you found out before attempting to run a program. What would
GT> happen if I sent the executables for Marks' UUENCODE/UUDECODE?
GT>
Problem was that UUDECODE appeared to run OK - - no error messages - - but
it produced a ZIP file of zero length. I assume it has something to do with
the fact that it was a multi-part file, because it works alright with a single-p
file. Of course, I edited the files first to join the separate parts together,
without the overhead text.
When you use Marks' program, do you still have to edit the files to reconstitute
the whole thing?
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123)
------------------------------
Date: 12-30-89 (07:12)
To: ALL
Subject: FORMAT
From: CHRIS SWEET
I have a friend who has a rainbow and we can't access the hard drive..
We think that it might not be formated...we always get read erro
how does one go about formmating a hard drive on the rainbow thur
msdos..
------------------------------
Date: 01-02-90 (08:25)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5
From: GEORGE THEALL
FM>Problem was that UUDECODE appeared to run OK - - no error messages - - but
FM>it produced a ZIP file of zero length. I assume it has something to do wit
FM>the fact that it was a multi-part file, because it works alright with a sin
FM>file. Of course, I edited the files first to join the separate parts toget
FM>without the overhead text.
But what about the answers to my questions, Frank? To get a zero
length file something must have been seriously munged by a mailer
somewhere. I suggest, though, that we take this up privately. Can you
mail me the uuencoded file back again? I'll compare it against what I
originally sent you for any differences.
FM>When you use Marks' program, do you still have to edit the files to reconst
FM>the whole thing?
No. The eof is marked with the keyword "end". Additionally, if the
file was generated by Marks' UUENCODE there's checksum information
following this. When his UUDECODE finishes processing a physical file it
prompts for the next file in the sequence and processes that. It
continues until is sees the keyword "end".
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Every man has his price
------------------------------
Date: 01-02-90 (08:33)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RAINDOS V1.0
From: GEORGE THEALL
FM>GT> Does anyone know whether RX50 will work on an XT-class machine?
FM>GT> Or how common it is to find XT's with 1.2MB drives in them?
FM>
FM>XTs with 1.2MB drives are not very common. You need the proper controller
FM>card and DOS version in addition to the hi-density drive itself.
Surprisingly, a prof at Penn operates in this setup. I knew he was
interested in doing so, but until he contacted me saying he WANTED
RainDOS I had no idea he had succeeded.
FM>I don't see any advantage in RainDOS over RX50.
I don't either, except for those like this professor.
FM>If somebody REALLY wanted to do the Rainbow community a favor, they would
FM>figure out a way to let us replace our RX50 drives with RX33s.
Actually, I thought Richard Thomsen's BIOS changes held lots of
promise. The limitation is you have to get the current BIOS in source
form. Anybody know whether a disassembler would do this adequately?
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Dyslexics of the world - UNTIE!
------------------------------
George A. Theall
In this issue:
RE: MODEM
FORMAT
RE:NULL MODEM
RE: FILE TRANSFER FROM RA
CHECK FROM DEAD BEAT
REPLY
FORAY
...
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 12-28-89 (20:08)
To: KELSY CROSSMAN
Subject: RE: MODEM
From: ERIC SPEARS
Is your modem manufactured by Concord Data Systems, somewhere is Mass?
If so, I may be able to help.
---
* Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431 (Opus 1:343/3)
------------------------------
Date: 01-01-90
To: CHRIS SWEET
Subject: FORMAT
From: FRANK MALLORY
CS> I have a friend who has a rainbow and we can't access the hard drive..
CS> We think that it might not be formated...we always get read erro
Does it have the standard 10MB hard disk? And what version of MS-DOS are
you using? Do you have a copy of DEC's Winchester Utility program?
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123)
------------------------------
Date: 01-01-90
To: PATRICK FINK
Subject: RE:NULL MODEM
From: ART MCCLINTON
>Could someone tell me what pins to swith to make a null modem adapter?
>-pat
It all depends on the application. pins 2 and 3 are receive and transmit.
At a minimum they need switching.
If you do not want to tinker with breakout boxes or the insides of connectors,
you can go to your local computer store and explain your problem. But do
not buy unless you can return it if it does not work.
Here is a bag of tricks that will allow you with trial and error to determine
the right connections for a null modem. I have assumed that you are requestin
an Asynchronous null modem for 25 pin connections. Synchronous null modems
have to exchange clock and are well defined.
If you have a breakout box it will help in setting up the actual
null modem. The following steps should allow you to quickly determine
the proper configuration:
1) Pin 1 [Frame Ground] and pin 7 [signal ground] should be passed straight
through. Pin 2 [Transmit Data] and Pin 3 [Rec Data] should be crossed.
2) Cross Pin 4 [Clear to Send] and Pin 5 [Request to send]. If the two comput
computers raise RTS when they wish to send and do not send until CTS is
high than this will enable full-duplex transmission. If only one of the
computers uses this technique, then you may need to jumper 4-5 on each connect
but not pass them to the other end (this allows the machine to send as soon
as it is ready, without waiting for a CTS from the other side.
3)Connect the jumpered local pin 6 [Data set Ready] and pin 8 [Carrier Detect]
to the remote pin 20 [Data Terminal Ready]. Likewise connect local DTR
to the remote jumpered DSR and CD.
The breakout box allows an easy way to see what signals are present. It
is also possible to use a volt meter to see what signals are present.
The minimum null modem connects 1-1, 2-3, 3-2, jumpers 4-5 on each side with
no remote connection, 7-7, and jumpers 6-8-20 on each side with no remote
connections. The normal offical null modem connects
1-1, 2-3, 3-2, 4-5, 5-4, 6&8-20, 7-7, 20-6&8.
ps - in some modem applications pin 22 (Ring Indicate) is used.
pps - Several good books are: RS232 Simplified (Sorry I can not remember
the author and it is in the office) and KERMIT, A File Transfer Protocol
by Frank da Cruz Digital Press.
--- ConfMail V3.31
* Origin: The Pot of Gold - (703-359-6549) (1:109/103)
------------------------------
Date: 01-01-90
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: FILE TRANSFER FROM RA
From: ART MCCLINTON
Frank
Just remember that the rainbows 96 tpi head is not wide enough to erase a
48 tpi track written by the IBM drive. The resultant disk will appear readabl
on the Rainbow but will not be readable on the IBM. I have always kept
a separate set of disks for transferring each direction. This seems to
minimize the problems with reading on the IBM side.
I think that you already do this but only point it out so that the original
questioner will realize the "problem"
Art McClinton
--- ConfMail V3.31
* Origin: The Pot of Gold - (703-359-6549) (1:109/103)
------------------------------
Date: 12-31-89 (12:18)
To: RICHARD KENADEK
Subject: CHECK FROM DEAD BEAT
From: MARK BORNSTEIN
In a message of <29 Dec 89 00:02:34>, Richard Kenadek (1:322/560) writes:
>Hey Mark
>Did you ever get that check that Jeoff Reed promised to send you from 2
>years ago????
>Just wondering if that dead beat ever paid up or not.
Nope, he called me voice almost a month ago to get my address so
he could send it. Can't figure out why he called though. I did not expect
him to pay, and he has not. I guess if I am "abusive" enough Theall is gonna
send me the money. (Mayhaps he can even get his minions to contribute.) He
has taken over as "guardian of public morals" around here. After all, it's
a tough job, but somebody has got to do it.
What a shame that those poor people (all 6000 of them) around the world
have to read this reply on Usnet.
...mark
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Island Logistics (617) 631-3304 (1:101/111)
------------------------------
Date: 12-31-89 (12:47)
To: BRUCE JACKSON
Subject: REPLY
From: MARK BORNSTEIN
Nice to see you here after your long abscence. Even nicer to see
a breath of rationalism about the current furor. Especially nice to see a
customer who has retained his memory. Thanx for the kudos.
...mark
--- msged 1.99L MSC
* Origin: Island Logistics (617) 631-3304 (1:101/111)
------------------------------
Date: 12-31-89
To: BRUCE JACKSON
Subject: FORAY
From: GEOFF REED
Bruce, the thread is dead, leave it that way. If you had taked the time
to read ALL the messages, you would have noticed that mr B. claimed that
everyone who posted, telling him to knock his BS off had ulterior motives
for doing it. this is not the sign of a well individual. he is just looking
for a fight, I know of already 3 or 4 sysops that use KillrDog or varients
to kill all his messages, because in all the time I've read the rainbow
echo, he has never posted useful information, just commercials. " well,
you have this problem, and I can sell you this nifty manual that'll help
you fix it" or caca like that. He has drived away users/ programmers like
Robert Catt with his unwanted attitude.
--- msged 1.998y
* Origin: StarShip_Inconnu, Cruisin' the Stars (1:6000/0)
------------------------------
Date: 12-31-89
To: RICHARD KENADEK
Subject: ...
From: GEOFF REED
Richard, knock it off or you mau find yourself a co-defendant in a libel
suit
--- msged 1.998y
* Origin: StarShip_Inconnu, Cruisin' the Stars (1:6000/0)
------------------------------
George A. Theall
In this issue:
ASCII CHARACTERS (2 messages)
USENET/INTERNET
RE: SPOOLER (2 messages)
RE: ASCII CHARACTERS
RE: KEDT
RE: PROBLEM WITH HARD DIS
Rainbow News Fido
UUCP/INTERNET
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 01-04-90 (14:44)
To: ALL
Subject: ASCII CHARACTERS
From: RICK MELLON
How does one enter ASCII codes on the Rainbow (the 'bow version of
IBM's "Alt+<numeric keypad)?" Also, is there a list out there of
Rainbow ASCII characters, particularly those from 128-255 (all that neat
graphics stuff)? I assume (careful, Rick) that someone has created such
a list. I'd like to avoid buying technical docs just for this. Thanks
for any help.
--Rick
---
* Origin: The Rising MoonStar (Opus 1:142/723)
------------------------------
Date: 01-02-90 (19:38)
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: USENET/INTERNET
From: GEOFF REED
George, when I talked with you on the phone, you said that there
were versions of UUCP out there that'd work on the rainbow, But I forgot who
you said to ask, I'm looking for one 'cause I want to read comp.os.minix and
a few other conferences, plus be able to get info.dec.micro files via UUCP
---
* Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431 (Opus 1:343/3)
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90 (07:29)
To: DAVID HUGHES
Subject: RE: SPOOLER
From: FRANK MALLORY
The regular PRINT command works pretty well as a spooler, provided that you
first disable HISTORY and any other TSR programs that interfere with it.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90 (07:37)
To: RICK MELLON
Subject: RE: ASCII CHARACTERS
From: FRANK MALLORY
The "Compose Character" key is used to enter the special ASCII characters
on the Rainbow. For example, to enter the Greek character omicron you punch
Compose followed by / and u. The Compose Sequences are shown in Appendix
E of the Rainbow Owner's Manual. Appendix F shows all the character codes.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90 (12:16)
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RE: KEDT
From: FRANK MALLORY
> From: OS36...@wvnvaxa.wvnet.edu
>
Far as I know, SmEDT is the only Rainbow editor that can be operated remotely
(which is what you are trying to do).
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90 (12:24)
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: RE: PROBLEM WITH HARD DIS
From: FRANK MALLORY
> From: mar...@cu-arpa.cs.cornell.edu (Bill Martin)
> Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY
>
It could possibly be a power supply problem. Check your power supply connector
(the flat cable going from your power supply to your system board). If you
can see any dark spots, replace it.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90 (12:31)
To: RICK MELLON
Subject: ASCII CHARACTERS
From: FRANK MALLORY
Correction: that's the Greek letter Mu, not Omicron, that's produced by the
Compose sequence /u.
---
* Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123
------------------------------
Date: 01-06-90 (09:07)
To: ALL
Subject: Rainbow News Fido
From: GEORGE THEALL
Does anyone know what's the FidoNet address for the Rainbow News Fido?
Last time I was one I thought it reported 1:7/7. However, I've heard
from David Dodell that Fido doesn't have a net 7 and hence this is
certainly invalid.
I've heard Caroline and Tom are moving pack east SOON!!! I bet it
won't be long before they get hooked into this Echo!!!
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ "El amor es un camino que de repente aparece"
------------------------------
Date: 01-06-90 (09:05)
To: FRANK MALLORY
Subject: RE: SPOOLER
From: GEORGE THEALL
FM>The regular PRINT command works pretty well as a spooler, provided that you
FM>first disable HISTORY and any other TSR programs that interfere with it.
Isn't there an option for HISTORY that allows it to work properly
with PRINT? Something like /d?
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Unrecognized faults lead to wasted efforts
------------------------------
Date: 01-06-90 (08:47)
To: GEOFF REED
Subject: UUCP/INTERNET
From: GEORGE THEALL
GR>George, when I talked with you on the phone, you said that there
GR>were versions of UUCP out there that'd work on the rainbow, But I forgot wh
GR>you said to ask, I'm looking for one 'cause I want to read comp.os.minix an
GR>a few other conferences, plus be able to get info.dec.micro files via UUCP
Michael Branton (m...@stetson.BITNET) reportedly is using UUSLAVE to
read news from his Rainbow. I don't think he was able to use the regular
UUPC stuff because of it does some pretty low-level stuff and assumes
PC-compatibility. Maybe he'll see this message and respond.
I've heard nice things about Minix, but don't think anyone has ported
it to the Rainbow yet. About a year ago, Gerry Wheeler (whe...@mks.com)
expressed some interested in doing this. Gerry had previously ported QNX
to the Rainbow, so I would guess he knew what was involved.
As for the stuff on info-dec-micro, have you tried requesting them by
sending email from FidoNet to Internet? I don't see a gateway for net
343 (which you're using) so stuff would have to go thru David Dodell's
system. Until someone sets up a gateway for your net, then, it would be
best to choose carefully what programs you request.
George
---
~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet)
------------------------------
George A. Theall
In this issue:
10 MEG
PROBLEM WITH HARD DISK
NEED TO SELL RAINBOW 100
Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus,
you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in
these digests.
Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this
digest to GTH...@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 01-04-90 (08:19)
To: ALL
Subject: 10 MEG
From: CHRIS SWEET
Yes it is a 10 meg hard drive st-506... and we are running dos 2.0 "1"
not sure which... I can't find any type of format program ... what is
the name I should look for... Would we be better off to format it using
cp/m or ms-dos...
------------------------------
Date: 01-05-90
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: PROBLEM WITH HARD DISK
From: GORDON GREEN
> Lately, it has has developed a perplexing problem. Perhaps
> one of you might know what's going on. Four months ago, the
> machine would not boot up from the hard disk, after many months of
> reliable service.
>
> The Winchester diagostics said that either the controller card
> or the drive itself was bad (failing in subtest 2 on the head seek
> test). I then ran full system diagnostics (main memory, screen,
> floppies, etc.) with no errors reported. Strangely, the system
> would then boot off of the hard disk with no problems after I ran
> the diagnostics.
I encountered a similiar problem with erratic behavior. Replaced mother
board and after a few months the problem returned. Finally found that the
ribbon cable between the power supply and the mother board had several pins
the looked like they had cooked at the power supply end. I got a new cable,
cleaned the connector pins on the power supply and all has been ok since.
The cable didn't show much until you removed it and olooked at the underside,
the problem was not apparent from the topside. Suggest you check this out
to see if it is something this simple.
--- QM v1.00
* Origin: GG's_point of Cuckoo's Nest : Hudson, NH : HST (1:132/119.1)
------------------------------
Date: 01-04-90
To: GEORGE THEALL
Subject: NEED TO SELL RAINBOW 100
From: DAVID STRICKLER
Your best bet is to donate it and take the tax write-off. That's a pretty
stripped machine, and not worth much, but I bet a local school or church would
love it as a small word processor.