Info-IBMPC Digest V6 #9
Info-...@c.isi.edu.uucp
This Week's Editor: Billy Brackenridge
Today's Topics:
LAPLACE.C SOLVE.C CONTOUR.C
Address mode bug in Microsoft MASM 4.0
Multiple file handles in MS-DOS
EMS Emulators may not Allow Aliasing
EMS Simulators Beware
Ruggedized AT
Ruggedized PCs
Saving Turbo Pascal Programs
How to add a RESET Switch
Absolute Pointers in MSC 4.0
Making COMMAND.COM Resident for MS-DOS 2.xx:
Factory Simulation Software SIMFACTORY SIMSCRIPT
Queuing Simulation
Today's Queries:
PL/I COMPILER for IBM PC
Communication Program to run with 1200/75 Baud Modem (2 Msgs)
More PKX34A20 info
HASHTAB.C Submitted to Library
UPDATE.C Revision
Does THRASHER Really Work
RAMdisk for EMS card (2 Msgs)
PC-Write Trojan Horse (2 Msgs)
Tall Tree JRAM-Disk
Tall tree JRAM-Disk and Tech Service Phone Number
Maxtor EXT-4380 on IBM PC/RT
Memo Field
Multiprocessor Architecture (2 Msgs)
External 3 1/2" Drive Query
SIMTEL20
Mostly Public Domain 32016 Hardware with UNIX PD32
Pascal Formatter
SIMCGA and NANSI.SYS problems
Music Editing Program Wanted
Minix
ANSI Device Driver Query
Spreadsheet Templates Wanted
Simple Pascal to C Translation Aid
Problem with NANSI.SYS
PC-286 Query
PCjr. Disk Add-on Query
Double Boot Problem
Imagen300 Printer Driver for MS-Word
Want to Run MS C From a Program
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Prolog Error under DR DOS+
How do you Reboot?
Reading disk volume label from C or ASM
DURAPAK Mass Storage
EGA Information
ANSI.SYS Key redefinition Limited and Help System
PibAsync 1.0 Problem
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: LAPLACE.C SOLVE.C CONTOUR.C
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 21:53:47 EST
From: James R. Van Zandt <j...@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
I'd like to contribute two programs to the library. Here
are suggested entries for the catalog:
SOLVE.C Solves linear systems. Based on FORTRAN program in
"Computer Methods for Mathematical Computations" by
Forsythe, Malcolm, and Moler.
<James R. Van Zandt, jrv@mitre-bedford, 12 Feb 87>
LAPLACE.C Solves Laplace's equation in 2 dimensions with arbitrary
laplace.doc boundaries. Uses relaxation on a rectangular grid with
plates integer arithmetic, automatic adjustments when specified
boundaries don't fall on grid points. LAPLACE starts
with a coarse grid, then uniformly subdivides it to
improve accuracy. Input file is suitable for GRAPH,
which can be used to check the boundaries, and SPLINE,
which can help prepare curved boundaries. Output is
suitable for CONTOUR, which will find equipotentials.
PLATES is a sample data file, and PLATES.POT (see catalog
entry for CONTOUR) is a sample output. Requires SOLVE.C
and HSORT.C (elsewhere in the library).
<James R. Van Zandt, jrv@mitre-bedford, 12 Feb 87>
CONTOUR.C [This blurb got clobbered by Emacs but program is in
the library. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: 28 Jan 87 19:37 -0800
From: "Ya`akov N. Miles" <bd%dac.triumf.cdn%ubc....@RELAY.CS.NET>
To: info-...@C.ISI.EDU
Subject: Address mode bug in Microsoft MASM 4.0
I have noticed the following bug in Microsoft MASM version 4.0, specifically
DS:1234 refers to location 1234 as it should, but
[DI+DS:1234] does not cause indirect reference to location 1234,
but rather is treated like [DI+1234], similarly
[DX+DS:1234] causes the same problem, erroneously referring
to DX + OFFSET 1234, instead of DX + LOCATION 1234
Reply: <b...@triumf.bitnet>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 87 08:40:39 cst
From: m...@ncsc.ARPA (Williams)
To: info-...@c.isi.edu
Subject: Multiple file handles in MS-DOS
Had another thought about the file handle/pointer situation in MS-DOS.
I haven't researched it yet, but the system's behavior makes it look as
if there's only one pointer available to a file at a time. I don't know
if that makes a lot of sense, but it is understandable in a single-
tasking OS in a primitive sort of way. Anyhow, maybe the sopen()
function in v3.x would help...it causes the file to be opened in shared
mode and seems likely to support multiple file pointers. No test yet.
Mark L. Williams
(m...@ncsc.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 08:04 EST
From: Fran...@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: EMS Emulators may not Allow Aliasing
Be aware that the L/I/M EMS spec allows aliasing -- two windows upon the
same EMS memory. You simply cannot do that with the so-called EMS
emulators.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 18:51:54 EST
From: jo...@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine)
Subject: EMS Simulators Beware
A note in issue #8 suggests the use of EMS simulators for getting the
effect of expanded memory when all you have is extended memory or
disk, and mentions that they have performance problems. Actually,
they have a worse problem -- they don't work.
The software-only products simulate EMS memory by allocating a 64K
bank of real memory and swapping the 16K chunks to and from extended
memory (regular memory above 1MB) or the disk. These products sort
of work in many cases, but the EMS spec lets you map the same page to
more than one of the 16K address windows, simulators can't do that
properly, so many programs do not work.
I work for a company that makes a PC program that can store its data in
expanded memory. We took a lot of care to make using EMS memory fast,
and it turned out that since we pack as many objects as possible to a page,
we'd sometimes map the same page twice when using two different objects on
that page. We got a certain number of complaints about smashed data that
we eventually realized were due to imperfect EMS simulation. We finally had
to test the EMS at start time to see if it worked properly, and send a message
to the user saying that his EMS memory seemed to be broken so we wouldn't
use it.
Even simulators that do work are incredibly slow since moving 16K
chunks means that remap calls take milliseconds rather than
microseconds (or if they're swapping to the disk, seconds rather than
microseconds.)
The only EMS simulator that I've seen that works is the one that comes with
a Compaq 386, because it uses the 386's paging hardware to do the mapping.
It's fast, too. Too bad the machine is so expensive.
John Levine, ima!johnl or Lev...@YALE.somethingorother
PS: There are a lot of real EMS cards whose driver software didn't work
properly at first, but that's another story.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 10:15:41 PST
From: Jim Anderson <bilb...@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Ruggedized AT
I just happened to see an ad it the Feb. 10, 1987 issue of PC-WEEK (p. 150)
for "Industrial AT Cabinets".
BTI Systems
110 Cedar Street
Wellesly Hills, MA 02181
(617) 235-0319
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 16:18:36 est
From: jl42#@andrew.cmu.edu (Jay Mathew Libove)
Subject: Ruggedized PCs
There is a company called Texas Microsystems who sells a Rack mountable
"PC" system that uses a bus-board, and has eight slots in to which you
plus whatever. INCLUDING YOUR PROCESSOR CARD, such that it is easy to upgrade
from one processor to the next. I have worked with these (the company I
worked for last summer opted for these systems with CDC hard disks for a
work environment that would include bad weather (as it were), human
bumping, and 24 hours a day, 365 days a year duty cycle at 100 percent
usage.
They had not failed even once in the time I was there when I left to come
to college.
The price on the systems is also quite good- I believe that you beat IBM's
price with Texas MicroSystems, and I also believe that they have a good
service contract built in or available. (Or else we would not have
used them.)
-Jay Libove
-jl...@andrew.cmu.edu
-j...@cmuccvma.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 10:26:33 PST
From: Jim Anderson <bilb...@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Saving Turbo Pascal Programs
Oops! Well, I was close in my previous statement about constants in
Turbo pascal. Omar Wing also had a valid example of a situation that
would cause the originally described problem. (The original problem
was that running a program from Turbo Pascal gave different results
than running the Turbo generated .COM file.)
The bottom line is, make sure Turbo really compiles the program to
create the .COM file, rather than writing a possibly "dirty" .COM
file from a previously run program. Of course, if this does make a
difference in the result there is something not quite legitimate
happening in the program.
------------------------------
From: gatech!ucf-cs!ba...@seismo.CSS.GOV (Larry A. Baird)
Date: 9 Feb 87 22:39:00 GMT
Subject: How to add a RESET Switch
Organization: Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando
The following is an article that a friend of mine got off of
compuserve. I have installed the reset switch as described
here ,accept I used a bigger switch that fit a plugged hole
in the back of my PC. I have had no problems with this
method. I also run a program out of my autoexec.bat to
keep the reset switch from testing RAM.
In the Feb. 87 issue of PC Tech Journal that had an article
titles "Alternatives to the Big Red Switch" in which they
talk about a flag that DOS used on bootup to determine if a
memory test should be done. In practice CNTL-ALT-DEL sets
this flag to prevent a retest on reboot. We can write a
little program that sets this flag and add this program
to our autoexec.bat. To add this feature do the following
DEBUG set1234.com
a
mov ax,40
mov ds,ax
mov word ptr [72],1234
int 20
<CR>
r cx
d
w
q
By adding this feature our reset switch will not cause a
memory test upon bootup
HOW TO ADD A TRUE HARDWARE RESET BUTTON TO THE IBM PC
FOR ABOUT $4.00 I ADDED A TRUE HARDWARE RESET BUTTON TO MY
IBM/PC. IT'S EASY, TAKES ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND WORKS. HERE'S
HOW TO DO IT.
THE IBM/PC 8088 PROCESSOR DERIVES IT'S CLOCK SIGNAL FROM AN
INTEL 8284A CLOCK CHIP. THIS CHIP ALSO OUTPUTS A RESET LINE.
TO ACTIVATE THIS RESET LINE AN INPUT LINE CALLED POWER
GOOD (PWRGOOD ON THE LOGIC DIAGRAMS) MUST BE SHORTED TO
GROUND MOMENTARILY. THIS LINE COMES IN TO THE CHIP ON
PIN 11. WHEN THIS PIN IS SHORTED TO GROUND AND THEN RETURNED TO
NORMAL, THE 8284A GENERATES THE RESET SIGNAL ON PIN 10
WHICH IS SENT TO THE 8088 PIN 21 AND THE BOOT PROCESS
BEGINS!
THE 8284A IS LOCATED IN A SOCKET NEXT TO THE POWER SUPPLY
|
____ ____ ___ |
| | | | | | |
|8088| |8087| | | |
| | | | | | | POWER
| | | | |___| |
| | | | | SUPPLY
| | | | ___ |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
|____| |____| |___| |
|
___ _ |
| 8 | (_) |
| 2 | |
THIS IS IT --> | 8 | __ |
| 4 | | | |
|_A_| |__| |
^ |______________________________
|
|
CRYSTAL
GO TO RADIO SHACK AND GET: (I USED THESE)
(1) AN 18 PIN DIP SOCKET (CAT 276-1992)
(2) A SPST MOMENTARY PUSH BUTTON SWITCH (CAT 275-1566)
(3) LIGHT GAUGE WIRE (SHIELDED AUDIO 24 GA) (CAT 278-1276)
SOLDER THE SWITCH ACROSS PINS 11 & 13 OF YOUR NEW SOCKET USING
THE TWO INNER WIRES AS SHOWN BELOW:
NOTICE THE NOTCH !!
____ ___
PIN 1 -------> | |__| | <----- PIN 18
| |
| |
| | SWITCH
| | SOLDER ___
| PIN 13 > | __________________| |_
| | | | |
| PIN 11 > | __________________| |_|
| | |___|
PIN 9 -------> |___________| <------ PIN 10
NOW REMOVE THE 8284A FROM THE CURRENT SOCKET AND INSERT
IT IN YOUR NEW SOCKET. NOW INSERT THE NEW SOCKET CONTAINING
THE 8284A IN THE OLD SOCKET ON THE MOTHERBOARD. RUN YOUR
SWITCH OUT THE BACK AND NOW YOU HAVE A RESET BUTTON!!
NOTE MAKE SURE THE NOTCH IN THE OLD SOCKET, NEW SOCKET,
AND 8284A ARE ALL ALIGNED. DON'T SHORT ANY OTHER PINS AND
YOU SHOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE. MY SYSTEM WORKS OK AND I CAN
WARM BOOT AND STILL HAVE THE CONTENTS OF MY RAM DISK ON
MY JRAM BOARD, EVEN IF THE SYSTEM LOCKS UP AND WON'T
ALT-CNTL-DEL BOOT. IT SEEMS TO BE AS RELIABLE AS POWER
OFF.
GOOD LUCK DON GENTRY
Larry Baird Dept. of Computer Science
uucp: {ihnp4!decvax,peora}!ucf-cs!baird University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32816
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11-Feb-87 09:03:30 est
From: polish%vo...@columbia.edu (nat polish)
Subject: Absolute Pointers in MSC 4.0
Actually, it is rather trivial to get to random locations in MSC4.0. In
DOS.H are two macros FP_OFF and FP_SEG which return and let you set far
pointer offset and segment. Page 63 of the Library Guide.
Nat Polish
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 12:34:54 EST
From: we...@linc.cis.upenn.edu (Tom Weiss)
Subject: Making COMMAND.COM Resident for MS-DOS 2.xx:
As far as I know, there is nothing you can put in your MS-DOS 2.11
config.sys file that will make command.com stay resident.
A reasonable alternative is to install command.com 'permanently' on a
ramdisk. This message is a description of an easy technique to do just
that.
I have two floppies (A and B) and my ramdisk is C. You may need to
adjust drive specs below for your system. Since I usually boot from
a:command.com, I have no shell command in config.sys.
The technique is quite simple. Rename your autoexec.bat file as boot.bat.
Now make a new autoexec.bat file containing the following lines:
copy command.com c:
copy boot.bat c:autoexec.bat
c:command c:\ /p
If you are using a ramdisk installed by running a .com or .exe file, add
your ramdisk installation command at the top of the new autoexec.bat
file. No matter what kind of ramdisk you have, be sure to enlarge it to
make room for command.com and boot.bat.
Now reboot your system. Command.com will be installed on your ramdisk,
and should reload from there under all circumstances.
How it works: When your system boots, it will load command.com normally
from drive A. Then the autoexec.bat file copies command.com and your
boot file to drive C (the ramdisk). The next command spawns an inferior
command.com, and tells it to look for itself in C:\ on reloads. The /p
tells the spawned command.com to act as if it were the top-level
command.com. This has two effects: 1) It makes the spawned command.com
process the exit command, so that there is no way to accidentally pop it
by typing exit at dos level. 2) It makes it execute autoexec.bat.
Memory cost: The memory used will be the space on your ramdisk for
command.com and boot.bat, plus about 4K for spawning an inferior
command.com.
Comments: When the spawned command.com starts, it looks for autoexec.bat
in the same place you told it to look for itself on reloads (C:\ in the
example above). However, drive A is still the default drive, so you
should not need to make any changes to your boot.bat file. If you
desire, you can place the command 'del c:autoexec.bat' at the end of
boot.bat. On my system this generates a 'batch file missing' error
message at the end of the boot, but causes no difficulties. Be sure NOT
to delete c:command.com. You might even want to change it to read-only.
Tom Weiss
we...@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Arpanet/CSnet)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 10:40:14 pst
From: gould9!ro...@nosc.ARPA (Ron Belanger @ CACI)
To: kjs%tufts...@RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: Factory Simulation Software SIMFACTORY SIMSCRIPT
Kevin,
CACI has two products which will do the modeling you require.
SIMFACTORY is a specialized product which does the type of
analysis you mentioned. It requires a description of the factory
layout, processing centers, processing times, flow rates etc. It
takes these parameters as input and produces an animated graphics
depiction of the factory operation and various textual reports
without any programming effort.
For a more general-purpose approach to queuing/simulation
problems we have SIMSCRIPT II.5 which is the general-purpose,
high-level language similar to Pascal, but containing all the
built-in constructs and data structures needed for discrete and
continuous simulation modeling. The PC version also does
animation graphics.
Since the PC version (which runs under DOS 2.0 or > ) does its
own virtual memory management and multi-tasking, you won't suffer
from the current DOS 640K limit while waiting (with baited
breath) for DOS 5.0 (ADOS/286-DOS) to finally be released.
Universities can get either package for a small handling charge.
You can call us at 619-457-9681 for more info.
Ron Belanger
{ no disclaimer here... I work for CACI! }
P.S. Tufts already has PC-SIMSCRIPT. I can put you in
touch with a user. A number of universities in
the Boston area have mainframe versions as well.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 10:46:33 PST
From: Imants Golts <stever%tekgen....@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Queuing Simulation
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR.
SLAM may be the market leader by their own accounts, but SIMAN
is better. SIMAN was developed after SLAM by the same person
who developed SLAM. The original SLAM was a "kludge" of the code
and features of GASP IV and Q-GERT (both of which had many graduate
student's hands in them). The original SIMAN was written from
scratch over a period of four years by one person.
SLAM will certainly give you the simulation functionality you need,
but the design of SIMAN's language (somewhat GPSS-like) makes it
a lot easier to develop models.
I have used and taught GASP IV, SLAM, and SIMAN extensively, and
I prefer SIMAN.
For more information about SIMAN and CINEMA (their animation program):
Systems Modeling Corporation
Calder Square
P.O. Box 10074
State College, PA 16805-0074
(814) 238-5919
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 15:22 EST
From: Deba Patnaik <DEBA%UMDC....@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: PL/I COMPILER for IBM PC
Need info on any available PL/I compilers for IBM PC and compatibles.
I will appreciate any pointers.
--deba
deba%umdc....@wiscvm.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 21:32 N
From: <TWHENK%HENTHT5...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Communication Program to run with 1200/75 Baud Modem
Problem
Here in Holland we have to send data via a phoneline with a modem
with a standard which is different from American standard. This is
done to unload the phonenetworks. The standard is more complicated
and this makes a normal modem very expensive. Its normal then to use
a 1200/75 baud modem because the typing speed from a normal person
is less then 75 baud. This makes the modem cheaper and you keep
a receiving speed from 1200 baud.
The communication programs I have seen all work with the same send-receive
speed.
Does anyone know if there are communication programs with split send and
receive speeds like 1200/75 and if it is possible with an vt100 emulator?
Greetings:
Martin Beekmans <TNEMMET@HENTHT51>
------------------------------
Date: 12 Feb 1987 16:59:07 PST
Subject: Communication Program to run with 1200/75 Baud Modem
From: Billy <BRACKE...@C.ISI.EDU>
You have my sympathy. Holland is a wonderful country, but deliver me from
state owned and operated phone companies! I think you are out of luck
unless you get non standard hardware and non standard software to go
with it.
The BIOS support for serial ports was poorly written. IBM tried to compensate
by releasing the ASYNC Comm Package with the original PC. It also was
poorly written and abandoned. Alas there is no accepted software standard for
communicating with serial ports.
The hardware standard is the software standard. The PC uses the 8250 chip,
which was obsolete at the time the PC was designed. Don Estridge creator
of the PC promised that direct screen writes and direct hardware writes
to the 8250 would be supported as part of the definition of PC compatibility.
You are out of luck because the 8250 chip is unable to support split
baud rates. I am sure there are some chips popular in Europe that support
split baud rates, but you will have to find software to go with them.
If you can find communications software, you can use NANSI.SYS in the
lending library to convert that software to VT-100 emulation.
Last year IBM announced a software interface for serial communications
that ran with the voice communications adapter and another telephone
controller card. The software interface is very well designed. It allowed
background communications under Topview, but was too little too late.
GLASSMODEM.ASM in our lending library uses this interface. Even this
interface does not allow for split baud rates.
Unless the folks at Microsoft are cleverer than I think they are, there is
going to be trouble with communications programs under the 286 and 386
versions of DOS. I doubt that any of the popular communications programs
will run under the newer operating systems, and you can certainly bet
Microsoft won't tell us anything about what is necessary to convert
our programs until they and the large companies like Lotus have had a
year or so head start in conversion to the "new PC standard".
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 14:05:09 est
From: william E Davidsen <davidsen%kbs...@kbsvax.tcp-ip>
Subject: More PKX34A20 info
Recently a new version of PKARC, identified as PKX34A20, was
distributed. Having gotten this version, I attempted to use it, and got
an "insufficient memory" error. After many tests I concluded that there
was an error in the program. When the program was run with the
environment value PKARCTMP set, the program failed (in 580k free
memory). The same thing happened with the values TMP, ARCTEMP, and
HOME. There were no resident programs, but there may have been some
interaction with device drivers.
I later pulled a copy of the program from another source and found that
it ran. Comparison of these versions showed that byte 407D (location
417D in debug) had a value of 08 in the version which caused problems,
and 06 in the version which ran as expected.
I decided to test the results compressing data with the old version
(PKX33A12), the version which objected to environment values, and the
version which worked correctly. Since the output of the new version is
not compatible with the ARC program, I wanted to see how much I gained
by using the new version.
The results, given below, indicate that in some cases the compression is
not as good! I was also unable to measure any improvement in speed using
the new version. In the results, the tables labeled "pkarc 1.2" are the
older version which produces ARC compatible files. The new version
allows compatibility with the older version as an option, so I ran it
both ways. The archives labeled STLOG are text logs of BBS logins, while
the STBIN archives are compressions of the PKARC and PKXARC programs
themselves. Note that even with the "/oc" (old compression) option set,
some files were larger in the output of the new version.
Conclusion: the PKX33A12 version gives speed and compatibility with the
ARC program. Because of the inconsistent results obtained with version
PKX34A20, I am going to wait for another release.
[Tables giving running times deleted -wab]
------------------------------
Subject: HASHTAB.C Submitted to Library
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 22:26:38 EST
From: James R. Van Zandt <j...@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
I'm submitting the program HASHTAB.C written by Allen Holub and
published in the February issue of Dr. Dobb's.
HASHTAB.C Portable symbol table routines written by Allen Holub
and published in the Feb 87 issue of Dr. Dobb's.
Maketab() returns a pointer to a newly created symbol
table (similar to fopen()). Addsym() adds a symbol,
allocates an associated data area from the heap of the
specified size, and returns a pointer to it. Findsym()
returns the same pointer. Symbol deletion and sorted
symbol printout also provided. Hash table size is
specified at execution time and governs speed of
access, but the table can grow gracefully to any size.
<James R. Van Zandt, jrv@mitre-bedford, 11 Feb 87>
[HASHTAB.C Has been added to the <INFO-IBMPC> lending library -wab]
- Jim Van Zandt (jrv@mitre-bedford)
------------------------------
Subject: UPDATE.C Revision
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 22:24:03 EST
From: James R. Van Zandt <j...@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
A few days ago I submitted a new version of my program UPDATE. Since
then I've discovered a bug in that version near the end of the source
code. Here is the single change needed to fix the bug...
Unchanged:
...
}
envsearch("comspec",command);
Changed line 431:
if(find_first(command),0) /* COMMAND.COM is missing */
To:
if(find_first(command,0)) /* COMMAND.COM is missing */
Unchanged:
{printf("%s is missing. \n",command);
fallback();
- Jim Van Zandt
[UPDATE.C has been updated in the <INFO-IBMPC> lending library. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 07:48:41 cst
From: mo...@ncsc.ARPA (Moore)
Subject: Does THRASHER Really Work
I ran Thrasher, the program that was announced in the last digest, against my
standard XT (10M drive, 3.2DOS); it determined that the optimum number of buf-
fers for my system is 8 (I've had it set to either 20 or 40). Reducing the
number in my CONFIG.SYS file seemed to cause a *significant* increase in the
time required to boot (after POST, of course). To check this, I checked the
loading time of my favorite editor (loading CONFIG.SYS): reducing buffers
caused about a 33% *increase* in the editor/file loading time!
Has anyone else had similar (or different?) results? Or have I once again
failed to read the instructions correctly!?
Jim
Mo...@NCSC.arpa
[Dick Gillmann tried it on two very different systems (an AT and PC with
external disk). Thrasher took a long time and arrived at the same
conclusion (9 buffers) for both machines. From experience he feels 15
works best for his DLX bboard on a PC. Our Dbase guru here at ISI uses
15 with Dbase as well. Has anybody any different results? -wab]
------------------------------
Subject: RAMdisk for EMS card
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 10:43:47 EST
From: James R. Van Zandt <j...@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
I'm frustrated. I have a program that needs about 608K of user memory.
I'm trying to run it on a Z150 with 640K of conventional memory and 2 MB
on an AST RAMpage expanded memory card. MS-DOS plus ANSI.SYS (also
required) leave enough user memory to run the program. However, adding
the device drivers to give me a ramdisk on the RAMpage leaves me with too
little memory.
So far, I'm using DOS 2.11 (later versions are larger) and set BUFFERS=1
(which really slows things down). AST provides three device drivers -
REMM.SYS to manage the expanded memory, REX.SYS to use the expanded memory
to emulate extended memory, and FASTDISK.SYS to implement the ramdisk. I've
set PIDS=2, which is the only parameter I know of to decrease the memory
requirements, but together they still take over 15K. AST can't (won't?) help.
Can anyone offer a solution? For example, does anyone have a bare-bones
ramdisk program that runs on a generic EMS card? (The Intel Above Board
software totals only about 5K, which would be small enough, but doesn't
recognize the RAMpage.)
- Jim Van Zandt (jrv@mitre-bedford)
------------------------------
Date: 13 Feb 1987 11:23:47 PST
Subject: RAMdisk for EMS card
From: Billy <BRACKE...@C.ISI.EDU>
To: James R. Van Zandt <j...@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA>
You might try the Tall Tree JRAM-3 EMS card. You can run Tall Tree
RAM disk, EMS memory and up to 704K dos region with the JRAM-3
card. They don't run quite the same hardware spec as AST. AST has an
exclusive with desqview and desqview runs the weird AST spec, but it
looks like that shouldn't be a concern. Looks like the 704K dos
region will give you enough extra to make everything fit in.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 11:12:22 EST
From: "Peter J. Laughton" <PJL%MX.LCS....@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU>
Subject: PC-Write Trojan Horse
In light of the announcement of PC-WRITE availability to Info-IBMPC
readers (volume 6, issue 8), I considered that it would be valuable to
share the following warning:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
TROJAN HORSE ALERT: BOGUS PC-WRITE 2.7x
----------------------------------------
The latest INFOWORLD (02/09/87) reports the discovery
of a bogus version of PC-WRITE.
Tom Wilkinson, the sysop in Los Angeles who discovered
it says "the trojan version when invoked, destroys the file allo-
cation table of a user's hard disk, and initiates a low level
format, destroying the hard disk's data."
The bad version pretends to be the latest version,
PC-WRITE 2.71 and is 98,274 bytes long.
The real version of 2.7 is 98,242 bytes long, and the real
version of 2.71 is 98,644 bytes. Wilkinson says the version posted
on Compuserve is the real version.
INFOWORLD reports that "Quicksoft, PC-WRITE's developer,
is offering $2500 reward for the first person who identifies the
creator of the bogus program and a $5000 reward for the person who
provides proof that convicts the perpetrator."
Don Richardson, 02/10/87
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please share your experience with version 2.72. Has it run with no trouble
on a hard disk system?
[Here is another good reason why the INFO-IBMPC lending library accepts
source files only. -wab]
------------------------------
Subject: PC-Write
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 11:36:17 EST
From: j...@mitre-bedford.ARPA
According to Quicksoft, the publisher of PC-Write, the latest
version is 2.71. Version 2.72 is a hack containing a booby trap, and
trashes hard disks. BEWARE!
Version 2.71 is a minor update of 2.7. They will not release a
version 2.72. They are trying to notify bulletin boards of the existence
of the bogus version, but are walking a thin line: they don't want to
scare people away from PC-Write.
I use version 2.7 and like it a lot.
Joshua Morris
jam@mitre-bedford
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 17:28:39 MEZ
From: UNM406%DBNRHRZ...@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Tall Tree JRAM-Disk
I have an IBM AT (512K motherboard) and recently bought a 512K Tall tree
JRAM AT3-S. I installed it using page 10 for the driver (JBOOT), as page
13 is in use by a SNA 3270 emulation.
(more precise: shunt P11 to 1, option s=10b for JBOOT)
Now the JRAM disk is there and works, but the redefined
Ctrl-Alt sequences (warm boot without loosing RAMdisk ) don't work.
Our dealer seems to be completely helpless, Tall tree is far away ----
does anybody out there know what went wrong ?
Thomas Miller
UNM406%DBNRHRZ1.BITNET
Thomas Miller 0228 73 3158 UNM406 at DBNRHRZ1
Math.Inst. Universitaet Bonn
Wegelerstr.10
D - 5300 Bonn 1
(internal use only: Be3,13)
------------------------------
Date: 13 Feb 1987 11:17:56 PST
Subject: Tall tree JRAM-Disk and Tech Service Phone Number
From: Billy <BRACKE...@C.ISI.EDU>
To: UNM406%DBNRHRZ...@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
The Tall Tree Tech number is constantly busy, but I got through this morning
after two days of trying. We had several questions for Tall Tree so I
threw yours in the queue. Tall Tree responded that your 3270 code could
be stealing the interrupt or if you are running DOS 3.2 you must upgrade
to version 3.80 or later of the Tall Tree JRAM software.
I have used Tall Tree boards at strange addresses for a long time and
never had problems.
Last week I spoke with John Henderson, president of Tall Tree. He is
working on a better system for handling tech calls. In the mean time
the phones are busy most of the day. Tall Tree's tech info number is
(415)424-8324 Their main number is (415)493-1980.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 13:38:42 est
From: kap...@nyu.arpa (Laurence S. Kaplan)
Subject: Maxtor EXT-4380 on IBM PC/RT
I am currently trying to connect a Maxtor 380MB EXT-4380 to an IBM
PC-RT running ASIS. The machine is using IBM's ESDI disk controller.
After adding the proper configuration tables to the
format program (included in their boot program) I tried to format the
disk. It did not work, returning errors such as write fault and
id not found to my format request. If anyone has tried to do this elsewhere,
including on an AT, and has any hints or information that might help,
PLEASE send me mail (I do not subscribe to this newsgroup).
Laurence S. Kaplan
NYU Ultracomputer Research Project
715 Broadway Rm. 1005
New York, NY 10003
(212) 460-7327
arpa: kaplan@cmcl2
uucp: {ihnp4,seismo}!cmcl2!kaplan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 15:34:22 PST
From: willis%violet.Be...@berkeley.edu (Willis Johnson)
Subject: Memo field
I've been writing C programs that access/manipulate data in dBase III+
files and would be interested in all information you can supply on
file formats. I'd gladly write the memo field program mentioned in
the posting to the IBM-PC news group and place the source in the
public domain.
Willis Johnson
wil...@violet.BERKELEY.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 12 Feb 87 18:24:08 EST (Thursday)
Subject: Multiprocessor Architecture
From: Marty <Leisne...@Xerox.COM>
I'm going to implement a dual processor system using an IBM PC (probably
AT) and an 8085 with 16k dual port static ram shared with the PC.
I want a good, efficient way to moderate concurrent access to data
structures in dual port ram.
The system constraints are such the 8085 has to run with minimal
overhead, while the PC isn't as critical.
Several questions regarding implementation follow:
1) The AT technical reference says the PC bus signal I/O channel ready
cannot be low for more than 2.5 microseconds. What if it is? If this
is a non-negotiable constraint, how can I get around it. Could I cause
a restartable processor exception to somehow occur (analogous to a page
fault)?
2) The Lock line on the 80286 is not used by anything on the PC board
(at least it isn't on my schematics). Is there any way to get the
signal onto the PC bus? Is of use in my application?
3) Is the XCHG register with memory on the PC of any use? Even though
it sets the lock signal (which I don't have on the pc bus) it doesn't
appear to work like a test and set. How would it be used to moderate
multi-processor systems. If the lock line only lasts for one
instruction cycle, my gut feel is there are problems.
4) I'd appreciate seeing any code in 8085/8086 assembler or C to
implement multiprocessor semaphore primitives on dual-port RAM.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
marty leisner
xerox corporation
leisne...@xerox.com
mar...@rocksvax.uucp
------------------------------
Date: 12 Feb 1987 17:20:52 PST
Subject: Multiprocessor Architecture
From: Billy <BRACKE...@C.ISI.EDU>
To: Marty <Leisne...@XEROX.COM>
Paul Mockapetris and I built a TMS320 signal processor that shared 8K
bytes of static RAM in the PC I/O space. Paul designed a semaphore bit. It
a trivial circuit once you have already worked out contention for the
dual port RAM. Which ever processor read the bit first would get a 1. All
subsequent reads would get a 0. Writing to the semaphore bit resets it to
1.
It worked fine, but in practice we didn't use it much as either processor
was able to interrupt the other, and that was enough to keep the shared
structures from corruption.
------------------------------
Date: 13 Feb 1987 12:17:18 PST
Subject: External 3 1/2" Drive Query
From: Richard Gillmann <GILL...@C.ISI.EDU>
I need to get an external 3 1/2" floppy disk drive for my IBM PC/AT.
I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this. Where did you buy your
drive? Did you use DOS 3.2 to access it? Any problems?
Richard
------------------------------
Date: Fri 13 Feb 87 23:25:53-EST
From: ANDERSON-RR%OSU...@ohio-state.ARPA
Subject: SIMTEL20
Could someone post a summary of how to access SIMTEL20.ARPA? Is it
only available on FTP? Is there a BITNET connection (I hope so!) Can
it be accessed by dial up phone lines? (I don't have FTP access.)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 87 21:03:50 PST
From: defron%violet.Be...@berkeley.edu (Daniel Efron)
Subject: Mostly Public Domain 32016 Hardware with UNIX PD32
The PD32 Users' Group is announcing its latest revision of the PD32, a
mostly public domain UNIX board. The board is based on the National Semi
32016 chip set. This includes the CPU, FPU, TCU, ICU and MMU. The design
is 10Mhz, 2Meg. The board requires an I/O subsystem. The most supported
system is an IBM PC or clone, XT, AT, etc. However the board can run (with
great difficulty) on other I/O bases (especially CP/M machines). The ideal
I/O system is an AT (or an XT with NEC V20) with at least a 20M hard disk.
The hardware is by George Scolaro and the software (aside from UNIX) is by
Dave Rand.
The board is a four layer, very high quality production. The current
UNIX supported is System V.2. (We are looking into Sys V.3, but no promises.)
This is a full AT&T sanctioned port with all utilities and languages, but
not the Writer's Workbench. The board comes complete with all the necessary
I/O drivers for the PC. The UNIX uses the PC file system. It creates one
big file for the UNIX file structure. This can actually be broken up into
many smaller files and you can mount a floppy or a RAMDISK under the file
system.
We are offering the board in many configurations. In addition we will
supply artwork, schematics, pal equations and prom listings to those who are
interested. Also, we will supplying data books, etc. with purchases. The
design is public domain, but you need permission to sell any product based
on it.
We are beta testing the board now and will be selling this new version
in the middle of March. If you are interested these are the approximate
prices. (The last two are exact.) The price does not include shipping.
Bare board w/ essential parts
(pals, proms, 32016 chip set) $150
Bare board w/ essential parts
and UNIX Sys V.2 $550
Complete, wave-soldered kit
all components, including RAM $400
Complete kit and UNIX Sys V.2 $795
Assembled and tested board
and UNIX Sys V.2 $949
You can get in touch with the PD32 UG at the following address and
we'll let you know more details about how to purchase. (Please send us
your US-mail address via US-mail, it helps in our record keeping.)
Daniel Efron
8910 Westmoreland Lane
Minneapolis, MN 55426
If you have any public domain UNIX software (for SYS V) we'd like to
get a copy. Please mail to me at my arpa, uucp or US-mail address.
[Minix port anyone? -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Fri 13 Feb 87 23:10:33-PST
From: Lee Altenberg <ALTE...@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: Pascal Formatter
Does anyone know of a program for the PC that takes Pascal program text
and formats it in a canonical form? I have used such programs on a
PDP1134, and find them quite handy.
-ALTE...@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 11:51:07 EST
From: Lee A Butler (Space Telescope|mike) <but...@BRL.ARPA>
Subject: SIMCGA and NANSI.SYS problems
I have had problems with SIMCGA on my system. It doesn't work, but
HERCBIOS.COM does. Has anyone else seen this?
Further, NANSI.SYS has a problem in that it doesn't always clear the
screen when told to do so. If there has been little I/O to the screen
when the escape sequence to "clear-and-home" arrives it works. If the
sequence is buried in the middle of a stream going to the display then
there is no "clear-and-home", just a "home". This is especially annoying
because MicroEmacs compiled for ANSI use sends this string along with a
stream of other stuff. When you start editing the file, whatever was
on the screen before is not erased before uE displays the edit buffer.
Note that ANSI.SYS does not suffer from this problem.
Any suggestions (especially for fixing NANSI.SYS) will be GREATLY
appreciated!
[Any fixes submitted will be included in our library. -wab]
Lee A. Butler
Space Telescope Science Institute 3700 San Martin Dr. Baltimore MD 21218
Arpanet: but...@stsci.arpa | but...@brl.arpa
Usenet: seismo!stsci.arpa!butler |
{noao,astrovax,cfa,charm,nrao1}!stsci!butler
Phone: (301) 338-4531
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 87 15:15:58 SET
From: Alun Saunders <ESC1319%DDAESA1...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Music Editing Program Wanted
To: Info-IBMPC <info-...@c.isi.edu>
I am looking for a (preferably public-domain or shareware) program that
will allow me to edit, transpose and print musical scores. Also useful
would be the capability to make an attempt at playing the edited score
on the IBM PC's speaker. The only examples of such programs that I have
seen are either for the Mac, which are generally very powerful and also
expensive (not to mention the fact that I don't have a Mac !) or are very
limited in their abilities.
Please reply to me personally, and I will summarize the results to the
net.
Thanks in advance,
Alun Saunders
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 87 16:14 CST
From: Wein...@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: Minix
Can some please tell me how to get on a uni USNET mailing list called
comp.os.minix.
I know how to get on arpa lists but have no idea how to gateway over to
USENET and get on this list. Anyone with information... pls send mail
to
Weinstein -at HI-MULTICS
[As was mentioned in the last digest Andy Tanenbaum
<mcvax!cs.vu.nl!a...@seismo.CSS.GOV> is the author of minix and runs the
discussion group on usenet. He recommends contacting Gene Spafford
sp...@gatech.edu or Brian Reid re...@decwrl.dec.com.
Scott Campbell <SCOTT%UTORONT...@wiscvm.wisc.edu> and
Erone Quek <QUEKE%QUCDN....@wiscvm.wisc.edu> have set up a minix discussion
group on bitnet.
The internet needs a volunteer to coordinate with these people and
set up an internet distribution and archival. Applicant must have
lots of time, disk space, and a good mailer as well as access to
usenet. INFO-IBMPC isn't going to run any more minix messages. When
someone sets up info-minix we will tell the info-ibmpc readers where
they can subscribe. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 87 13:33:37 EST
From: Russell Nelson <bh...@clutx.BITNET>
Subject: ANSI Device Driver Query
I have recently gone back and read every issue of volume 5, and so I feel
justified in asking a stupid question. To wit, what subset of the ANSI
standard do 'ansi', 'bigansi', 'nansi', and 'fansi' support? Possibly a
better question is, what subset of ANSI do I need to support for a Z-100
ANSI driver?
-russ
GEnie: BH01
BITNET:BH01@CLUTX
uucp: decvax!sii!trixie!gould!clutx!bh01
[Info-HZ100@radc-tops20 is the mailing list for Z100 stuff. -rag]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1987 13:28 PST
From: JGT...@CALSTATE.BITNET
Subject: Spreadsheet Templates Wanted
Does anyone have any Lotus or Supercalc templates that they are willing to
share? I am especially interested in ones that might be good examples for
a management/public administration class, but others could prove useful
as well.
Thanks (in advance)
Glenn Zwinger (213/498-5403)
Academic Computing Coordinator
California State University, Long Beach
JGT...@CALSTATE.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 87 23:08:23 EST
From: j...@ORNL-MSR.ARPA (James A. Mullens)
Subject: Simple Pascal to C Translation Aid
This is a simple program to convert Pascal keywords and operators to C.
I've found it to be valuable, though incomplete.
This version is my enhancement of a program which has appeared on the Internet
in the last few months.
- jim mullens / j...@ornl-msr.arpa / oak ridge national lab
[PAS2C.C has been added to the Library. -rag]
------------------------------
From: uwvax!crys.wisc.edu!jo...@seismo.CSS.GOV (Jon Wesener)
Date: 27 Jan 87 04:21:11 GMT
Subject: Problem with NANSI.SYS
I recently got the C package from MIX which includes an C compiler,
editor and windowed source level debugger. Everything is really nice,
especially for the price! It's just that when I run the debugger called
ctrace with ansi.sys installed, the output isn't directed to the output
window correctly. Supposedly, the screen should flip to the output window
followed by the output being written, 'cept it's happening in the other
order. Now I figured it couldn't be such any obvious error for the people
at MIX to overlook so I traced the problem to my using nansi.sys instead
of the ansi.sys that came with my operating system. When I use the
real ansi.sys it works perfectly! I have a rom debugger which I used to
trap any escape sequences that the program might be using to switch screens
and that nansi.sys might be handling differently, but no escape
sequences are involved. So my question to the net is, what could the
difference between nansi.sys and ansi.sys be that would cause this kind of
problem?
jon wesener
jo...@crys.wisc.edu
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 87 21:06:40 est
From: jld#@andrew.cmu.edu (Jay Davis)
To: INFO-...@C.ISI.EDU
Subject: PC-286 Query
Does anyone know of a good in-depth review of the new ibm pc-286?
Jay Davis
(andrew.cmu.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 87 10:12:30 EST
From: "thomas" <g...@i.cc.purdue.edu>
Subject: PCjr. Disk Add-on Query
I am thinking about expanding my PCjr. I would like to add a
second disk drive to it. Rather than buy one of the expensive
drive add-on kits, I would like to do it myself and save some money.
I have heard that the controller will support two drives with slight
modifications, but I don't know specifically how to do it. Rather
than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd see if anyone else has already
done this.
Andy Thomas
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 87 13:21:34 est
From: pre...@nswc-wo.ARPA
To: info-...@c.isi.edu
Subject: Double Boot Problem
I have a color PC clone system with a 20 megabyte hard disk and
2 floppies. It has a hercules color graphics board and a turbo board.
I have to turn the system on, off, and on again in order to get it to
boot. Then it boots twice. I also have had problems with the floppy di
disks not being recognized at times. Can anyone tell if I'm having
compatibility problems, hard disk problems, or ???? Any suggestions
will be appreciated.
Pat Reedy
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 87 21:55:02 EST
From: mm...@andrew.cmu.edu
Subject: Imagen300 Printer Driver for MS-Word
I would like to use MS-Word to produce output for the Imagen 300
Laser printer. Word comes with several different .PRD files but none
for the Imagen. Is there anyone who has created or knows of a .PRD
file to use with Word to print documents on this printer? Even a
post-processor is acceptable. A printer driver for the Apple
LaserWriter came with Word that creates output files in PostScript.
A program that converts PostScript files into Impress files (Imagen
language), if there is one of these, would work also.
Please reply via E-mail or this forum.
Thanks In Advance,
Mark Milliman
Carnegie-Mellon University
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
E-mail address:
..!ihnp4!cmucspt!ampere!mlm
m...@ampere.ece.cmu.edu
------------------------------
To: krul...@c.cs.cmu.edu
Subject: Want to Run MS C From a Program
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 87 13:09:09 -0500
From: Mark Colan <m...@ATHENA.MIT.EDU>
Bruce Krulwich asks:
I am interested in having a program written in Microsoft C 4.0 generate
functions on the fly (not by coincidence -- similar to LISP's compiling
a LAMBDA list). The only way I have come up with is to manually decompose
each function into primitives and interpret each decomposition whenever
the function is executed. Is there any way to do this for real?? I
suppose it would involve compiling text from a stream and linking to the
current environment. Is there a way to do this??
According to Scott Treaseder of Microsoft Corp, addressing developers
attending the Microsoft Windows Developers' Seminar in Boston on
Jan 29, 1987, the forthcoming 286 DOS will have the ability to NOT
bind a program to its subroutines until runtime [read: dynamic linking].
As I understand it, using Microsoft Windows you can get a limited form
of this functionality now.
Mark Colan
MIT Project Athena
------------------------------
Date: 9 Feb 1987 13:14:42 EST
Subject: Turbo Pascal
From: Lloyd <Grif...@A.ISI.EDU>
The following is from a friend of mine who is not yet on the
<INFO-IBMPC> mailing list. His comments are in response to the recent
messages on this subject and concern two topics: constants and arrays.
Turbo Pascal allows the use of Typed and Untyped Constants. A
typed constant is a variable with a constant value. These typed
"constants" may be changed via user input. A compiled .COM file
containing typed constants will use the initial constant value
assigned by the source code even if the user has changed the
typed constant value immediately prior to creating the .COM file.
Untyped constants should not be altered. They are true constants
and it is good programming practice to keep them that way.
Secondly, the {$R+} compiler directive should be included in all
programs that use arrays until they are fully debugged to allow
for range checking. Again this is good programming practice. It
is well worth the sacrifice in program execution speed to let
Turbo find the error instead of you.
Actually, I do have a third comment. I have noticed that when a
program becomes large (i.e.-approaching stack limits), Turbo will
sometimes overwrite a global variable with garbage. Has anyone
else experienced this problem? The only way I found to correct
this problem is to minimize the # of global variables. However,
I believe this to be a bug in Turbo Pascal.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 87 12:16 N
From: <SINGPANG%HLERUL5...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Turbo Prolog Error under DR DOS+
Hello all,
I am having trouble with Turbo prolog v.1.0. I tried
to run it on an Acorn Master 512 80186 10Mhz machine under DR DOS+.
When I type "PROLOG" at the A> prompt; the file loads fine; but if it
starts to run DOS+ reports an "Invalid Opcode Error". It then dumps some
register values which I unfortunately do not have here. Do you know
if Turbo prolog is indeed using invalid opcodes? Turbo Pascal v3.01
runs fine, so does Lattice C, MS Word 3.0, DbaseII and III so I think
the DOS+ is okay. How can I amend Prolog/DOS+ so that Turbo Prolog runs
on this system?
Is there any sign in the U.S. of a Digital Research Concurrent DOS 4.1??
Thanks in advance
Marc
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 87 17:06 EST
From: <SCOTTH%GMUVAX...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: How do you Reboot?
I need a quick easy way to reboot a IBM PC Running PC DOS 3.1 I would like
to be able to call a .com or .exe file entitled REBOOT or something along
those lines.
Thanks in advance,
Scott Hutchinson
[See the article on "how to add a reset switch" in this issue for some
relevant details on this subject. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 87 09:52 N
From: <LILIUS%FINFUN...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: Reading disk volume label from C or ASM
Could somebody tell me how to get/set the volume label
of a disk from either C or assembler.
Thanks,
Johan Lilius
Programmer
Research Unit for Computational Linguistics
University of Helsinki
FINLAND
------------------------------
Date: 11 February 87 15:29-GMT
From: K524911%CZHRZU1...@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: DURAPAK Mass Storage
We are considering the buy of a DURAPAK mass storage system by SYSGEN INC.,
but our dealer couldn't give us detailed information because DURAPAK is new
to him, too. We are thus looking for information from experienced users about
access times, reliability, convenience, pro's and contra's, bugs, etc in order
to have a firsthand sight of what may be our future storage system.
Thanks a lot
Stefan Vogel
Inst. for theoretical Physics
University of Zurich, Switzerland
EARN address: K524911 at CZHRZU1A
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1987 23:16 CST
From: a.d. jensen <UD040164%NDSUVM1...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: EGA Information
To: <INFO-...@C.ISI.EDU>
Hello...
My father has recently purchased an EGA card for his PC/XT, and now he
wishes to know 'all that there is to know' about it. Unfortunately, I
am quite unable to fill him in. Therefore, he has asked me to look
around for a 'definitive' source on the EGA -- what it does, how to
program for it, or whatever, I don't know, he just said 'find it.'
I am hoping that someone on the net can help me. If you know of any
text, article or 'official' documentation which he wouldn't have gotten
with the board, I would greatly appreciate your response (and so will
he :).
Please respond directly, as I do not have access to this list. Thanks.
[Perhaps if he read info-ibmpc digest he would know where to find
definitive EGA documentation in the hundred or so messages on the subject.
Perhaps if he looked at issue 4.125 he might have learned that the IBM
Seminar Proceedings V2 N11-1 contains much information on this subject.
He might also have learned about some neat programs he could get for free.
In the future Please don't ask for information and then admit you never
read info-ibmpc. Ask for the information and then lie to me. Tell me you
read info-ibmpc daily but can't remember where you saw the answer. This
makes the editor feel better. -wab]
a.d. jensen "Forty below keeps out the
Department of Geography riff-raff."
University of North Dakota - North Dakota State Motto
Grand Forks, ND 58201
<UD040164%NDSUVM1...@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 11:11 IST
From: jonathan brandon <C44%TAUNIVM...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: ANSI.SYS Key redefinition Limited and Help System
First of all I would like to thank all those who answered my
previous problem. Since the response was so fantastic I would like to
ask yet another question.
When using ANSI.SYS to redefine keys there seems to be a limit on
the amount of characters I can feed into my redefined keys. Something
around 140 I would very much appreciate any information on the
subject or as an alternative maybe a cleverer way of doing this using
Microsoft C.
Another problem I have which is probably to complicated to solve
in a short letter is that I would like to produce a LOTUS 123 type
help system using the F1 key to interrupt my program in order to call
upon help screens, again I would very much appreciate any help I
could get again using Microsoft`s C.
Many thanks in advance
yours sincerely
Jonathan Brandon
P.S. The first problem is the more urgent of the two.
[I didn't know ANSI.SYS has a key redifinition feature in it. I throw away
all programs that require ANSI.SYS so I have never tried this feature. -wab]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 16:21 N
From: <OLIVETTI%HROEUR5...@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: PibAsync 1.0 Problem
Does anyone out there have experience with a public domain include file
for Turbo-pascal called PibAsync.pas.
I have been trying to connect to a terminal-server from an Olivetti M24 via
a three-wire connection (RX, DX, Ground) using the routines in this file.
I have been getting unpredictable results, which include suddenly
switching to 40-character mode.
Should the routines work or are there known updates around or does anyone
have an alternative solution.(preferably in Turbo).
Thanks, Hans Schermer
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Holland
Hans@HROEUR5 (this is an EARN node, so you might want to add ".bitnet"
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End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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