[HEA] _____________________ ___ _ |___ ______________| | | | | | | _ | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | ____ _ _ _ _ ______ | | | || | | | / __ \ | | / \_/ \ | ___ \ | | | || |__ ____ | | / / \ | | /\ /\ \ | | \ \ | | | || _ \ | _ \ | | \ \__/ | | | |_|| | | |__/ / | | | || | | || |_|| | | \___/|_| |_| |_| | ____/ |_| | || | | || |__ | |____________________ | | _ |__||_| |_|\____/ |________________________| | | |_| | | Lighting Your Apple II Path On Delphi | | |_| >>> WELCOME TO THE LAMP! <<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IT'S BEEN EDUCATIONAL: Assisted Devices by Tee Cashmore AND THE BEST OF THE A2 AND A2PRO MESSAGE BOARDS "Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998" :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The Lamp! An Onipa'a Software Production Vol. 2, No. 4 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Publisher & Editor.......................Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. Internet Email....................................thelamp@sheppyware.net :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ April 15, 1999 OPENING PITCH Living On The Edge --------------------------------------------- [OPN] A FUNNY THING HAPPENED [FOR] The Heat Is On ------------------------------------------------- [HET] Miscellanea [MSC] Rumor Mill ----------------------------------------------------- [RMR] Public Postings [PUB] Best Of The Best ----------------------------------------------- [BOB] A2Pro_DUCTIVITY Checking out A2PRO on Delphi ----------------------------------- [A2P] IT'S BEEN EDUCATIONAL Assisted Devices by Tee Cashmore ------------------------------- [IBE] EXTRA INNINGS About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN] [*] [*] [*] READING THE LAMP! The index system used by The Lamp! is designed to make """"""""""""""""" your reading easier. To use this system, load this issue into any word processor or text editor. In the index you will find something like: EXTRA INNINGS About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN] To read this article, simply use your search or find command to locate [INN]. There is a similar tag at the end of each article: [EOA]. :: DISCUSSED ON DELPHI :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : You have a real feel for the history of the : : past, don't you? : : : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: GSWOMBAT :::::::: [EOA] [OPN]------------------------------ OPENING PITCH | ----------------------------------- From The Editor """"""""""""""" by Ryan M. Suenaga, B.A., M.S.W., L.S.W. [thelamp@sheppyware.net] LIVING ON THE EDGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Something's right in the world today, and I know what it is. A few weeks ago, the mainstream computing world was turned upside down by Melissa. Not a sexy supermodel, but an honest-to-God computer virus that came via infected email and spread like wildfire through the mainstream computing world. Windows machines were left temporarily useless, and some Macs were affected as well. Those of us with an Apple II were left unharmed. Life on the trailing edge of technology has all kinds of advantages--you get to know things well. There's a certain comfort to still using an Apple II over 20 years later--like putting on a shoe that you've used for years, or wearing a glove that fits you just right. Sometimes, there's just something right with the way we live: on the edge. [*] [*] [*] Pleased To Meet You Department: Although I would like otherwise, _The Lamp!_ has not had a lot of guest writers. I realize part of the problem is that as a free publication it's just not possible to budget in any sort of payment for writers. Back in the _GEnieLamp A2_ days, "payment" for writers was in terms of "free hours" for GEnie subscribers. But with free and flat rate accounts the norm, even that is not much of an incentive. Fortunately, the lack of payment hasn't stopped one of our loyal Delphi faithful. Tee Cashmore, a longtime Apple II devotee who is one of the regulars in the A2 Forum on Delphi, has volunteered to educate us on the use of assisted devices with the disabled population. It's important we remember that one of the strengths of the personal computer is that it has leveled the playing ground for many people, including those with disabilities. Thanks, Tee, for reminding us. [*] [*] [*] Dance The Night Away Department: If I actually manage to get this issue out on time, it'll be just hours before the KansasFest 1999 early bird registration discount offer ends. Join the fun of staying up all night and having fun all day. As always, check out the KFest Home page at http://www.kfest.org for more information. If I don't manage to get this issue out on time, well, I'm not sure how long it'll take to actually get it out. I'm on Maui for the weekend for a needed vacation of a few days. I will have PowerBook in hand and 'Net access (well, in a roundabout kinda way), though, so all is not lost. We'll see. I'll be stepping toward the edge, not away from it. And I'll be back. Ryan thelamp@sheppyware.net ASCII ART BEGINS _________ _ _ _ |__ __| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |___ ____ | | _____ __ ___ _ _ _____ | | | | | ___ \ / __ \ | | /____ \ | v v | | v ___ \ | | | | | | | | | /__\ \ | | ____| | | /\ /\ | | / \ \ | | | | | | | | | _____| | | / ___ | | || || | | | | | |_| | | | | | | | |_____ | |____ | |__| | | || || | | \___/ / _ |_| |_| |_| \______| |______| \____^_| |_||_||_| | |\____/ |_| | | | | |_| ASCII ART ENDS [EOA] [OPN]------------------------------ A FUNNY THING HAPPENED. . . . | ----------------------------------- Checking out A2 on Delphi """"""""""""""""""""""""" by Ryan M. Suenaga, B.A., M.S.W., L.S.W. [thelamp@sheppyware.net] * The Heat Is On * Miscellanea * Rumor Mill * Public Postings * Best Of The Best THE HEAT IS ON """""""""""""" [*] General Chatter ....... So How Old Is Your Apple II? [*] Vendors & Tech Support ....... More On ProSel Public Domain [*] User Groups & Publications ....... Virtual Printer Troubleshoot [*] Free Trade Zone ....... Collectible Apple ][? MISCELLANEA """"""""""" THERE'S A REASON WE STICK WITH THE IIGS Thought I'd post a nice """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" message... Spent a good bit of time this afternoon trying to get the Mac to receive a fax. Finally gave up and switched on my long-forgotten copy of PMPFax. Received fine, second try (the first try, the GS crashed, but I think that's because AppleTalk had been screwed up by something I had done to it). Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21179, GO COM A2) JUST HOW MUCH DOES SPECTRUM COST ANYWAY? Prices do vary from time to """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" time, as they often have special or bundle offers. The Web site is not as up to date as emailing Seven Hills direct at . Spectrum upgrade info follows: You can order now with a Visa/Mastercard/Discover card (give expiration date) via email or by phone (850-575-0566) or mail a check/money order to: Seven Hills Solutions Specialists 1254 Ocala Road Tallahassee, FL 32304 v1.0-v2.2 upgrade $25 v2.0-v2.2 upgrade $25 v2.1-v2.2 upgrade $25 New/Full v2.2 $85 (Special offers may be available - Contact SevenHills) U.S.: Add 7% tax if in Florida. Add $3.50 shipping and handling. Outside U.S.: Add $3.50 s/h for either upgrade; $5.00 for full version. Contacting SevenHills online: Mail: Web: Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Mon 1 Mar 1999 - 142 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 2.6 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 20867, GO COM A2) MORE HOT HUMOR FROM HABANERO Well, it was... oh about 1974. We were """""""""""""""""""""""""""" working at HP's Palo Alto research lab on a way to interface HP's newest programmable hand-held calculators to their mainframe attached line printers, you know, the big beasties with the print trains and the 16 inch wide ribbons with the rollers on either end. We had completed the hardware part of the interface, i.e. the "black box" that contained the circuit boards and the IC's and semiconductors et al. and the power convertor and cables with the maxi-to-micro connectors, but we were having difficulties with the "firmware". You see, the hand-held calculators functioned in "reverse-Polish-notation" and the printers used a proprietary version of "binary-coded-decimal-interchange-code". I know, I know, you're thinking "why not just implement Kluge's theorem with the extensions worked out by Richter and Thrush?" but don't forget this was 1974 (and it seems so easy now!) By chance, when my colleague was in the head reading "Particle Physics and Microwave Oven Technology Today", he stumbled upon a paper written by a little known computer science professor at Harvard University named Randall Gormly. It seems Professor Gormly had worked out about 69% of what we needed already. For those of you who are old enough to remember, Randall Gormly had devised, between 1966 and 1971, the "Gormly Method" of implementing algorithms into computer programs. Programs developed using the "Gormly Method" shared three characteristics, namely: 1.) they were extraordinarily minuscule in memory, which was important back then because the largest mainframe computers only had 256k. 2.) They were exceedingly efficient. 3.) They were 100% bug free. In fact, in 13 years of teaching at Harvard, only one pair of students completed his course with a buggy program. C & D grade-level students were writing 100% bug free programs with his method, which was the greatest testimony he could earn. Anyway, to make a long story short, we convinced our project manager to finagle a couple of plane tickets to Massachusetts so we could work with Professor Gormly and hopefully overcome the challenges we faced, software-wise, and get this printer project off our to-do list before Christmas. When we arrived at Harvard University, we, of course, went directly to Professor Gormly's office, since it was his office hour between classes. When we maneuvered our way into the building and finally found his office, the door was slightly ajar and a mildly heated discussion was progressing between Professor Gormly and two of his students. We decided to wait outside in the hall until the students left. Unfortunately, we could hear what was transpiring inside the office anyway. "Look, Mr. Allen, you failed this project for two reasons. Number one, you were supposed to do your work by yourself, not collaborate with another student..." "But professor, project management is an essential skill in the real world work place.." "But, Mr. Allen, this is not the real world, this is college. However, this brings us to point two as to why you're being flunked, your program has "bugs" in it." "Sure it has some minor glitches, but the program is ESSENTIALLY CORRECT! It only crashes sometimes. MOST OF THE TIME it completes successfully, and when it does complete, the results are as EXPECTED!" "Please lower your voice, Mr. Gates. "Essentially Correct" and "Most of the Time" are not good enough, it shows a real lack of forethought and planning and a poor implementation, neither of which will ever fly, in college nor in the 'real world'" "Ha! That just shows you what you know, Gormly. If we had used your method it would have taken us five times as long to write the program, and ours gets the same results as yours, except when it crashes." "Mr. Gates, what will the user do when your program crashes? What results will he use then?" "Big f__king deal. If the computer crashes you just reboot it and then when you run the program again you'll get the results because, like I said before, the program is ESSENTIALLY correct." "Mr Gates, I cannot believe what you are saying. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE in business, industry, science, or academia would EVER use a program that crashes, even if it is only one out of seven times it is used. If you tried to market a program like that, you would not be in business for long. In fact, I will make a prediction. IF You Write Programs That Crash For Any Reason You Will Fail. I PREDICT THAT 25 YEARS FROM NOW, IN 1999, THAT PROGRAMS USING THE GORMLY METHOD WILL BE IN USE WORLD WIDE AND THE GORMLY'S WILL BE THE FIRST FAMILY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE. BILL GATES AND PAUL ALLEN WILL BE PENNILESS PAUPERS SELLING PENCILS DOOR-TO-DOOR, OR HOMELESS DERELICTS BEGGING ON THE STREET. Mark my words, you two, you are destined to become complete failures if you don't program correctly, starting today. Now get out of my office and don't come back until you have redone your assignment, by yourselves, and without bugs." At this point the two students stormed out of the office, the little pimply faced kid muttering something about "I was going to quit computer studies tomorrow and switch to something more profitable, like ceramic engineering, but I'm going to show this b*st*rd!!!!" and the bigger one tagging along behind saying something like "Calm down Bill, and I'll help you. I saw an ad for some kind of home-computer gizmo, maybe we can write a basic interpreter for it, or something like that." Of course, when we went into Randall Gormly's office he was still upset and wasn't in a frame of mind to see us just now. He asked us to come back later, perhaps tomorrow. Besides, he had an appointment with his publisher to print the definitive study on computer science, a series of books on the Gormly Method. Unfortunately, later that night, Professor Gormly was busted in a motel room with two nude under-aged female students and a kilo of marijuana, apparently partial payment by his publisher for his manuscripts. The publisher apparently swiped the papers and burned them so as not to be implicated, and Professor Gormly had his pencil neck broken by two thugs sharing his cell. Apparently computer geeks were looked down upon by the under classes back in 1974. Consequently, we were not able to finish our printer project and the "Gormly Method" was never published. They had to take a previously rejected manuscript by some dork named Donald Knuth. And people say the sixties was a strange time. (HABANERO, 21516, GO COM A2) FIRST LOOK AT A NEW 'NET SEARCH ENGINE At the latest Monday night chat, """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" one of the many off-topic side discussions led me indirectly this morning to a new search engine that looks really promising. The name is "Ask Jeeves" and the URL is www.ask.com It allows you to enter questions in English sentences, and I'm guessing that it must use some type of Artificial Intelligence to determine what information it is you're actually trying to find. It works fine with lynx, too. I used the word "promising" above, because I didn't quite get the answer to the question I was asking, but then again, Ask Jeeves got me a whole lot closer than Alta Vista did. So, next time you're conducting a web search, try Ask Jeeves. Joe (JOE_KOHN, 21811, GO COM A2) WHAT MAKES INTREC CABLES SO GOOD? Technical Ability. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Most of quality control at your average cable manufacturer stops at counting connector pins. Anything more would cut into profits. Intrec, on the other hand, is so steeped in telecommunications; I recommend the purchase of the ProTERM package just for the manual! I will again say I would gladly edit a Intrec "Telecomm for Dummies Who Wannabe Geeks" manuscript for FREE! __,2__ Mike Brouillette; the "Un-Dead Apple" / _ _\ \(o)m(_, Delivered via Spectrum v2.1 & Crock 'O Gold v2.5 `boood Wed 10 Feb 99 1:27:01 pm (MBROUI11ETTE, 20936, GO COM A2) TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE IMAGEWRITER II Well you may find this """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" interesting then. I've been adding to, and editing this file whenever I run across some information regarding the IW2 printer. --- snip --- Markings and identification for the Platinum ImageWriter II: Top down view of the printer. ______________________ _| ____________________ |___ (_ (____________________( _)_) || || 1. Color Apple symbol followed ||____________________|| by "ImageWriter II" | | 2. Five buttons (power, select, |(1) (2)| print quality, line feed, |______________________| form feed) The White ImageWriter II only has the color Apple logo, it does not have any other markings or identification at location (1). The black lever adjuster on the inside of the printer near the right side is for when you are printing on multi part forms, address labels, 3X5 cards... and so on, items that would be thicker than a normal sheet of paper. Basically one click down away from the platen for each additional paper thickness. Usually for single sheet thickness printing you would have it raised up, as close to the platen as it will go. You can also adjust the height of the print head slightly with respect to the platen by turning the red adjusting ring on the small vertical cylinder just to the right of the ribbon. Push down gently turn and release. This is to compensate for the four color ribbons that have the color bands shifted up or down slightly. Which causes the top or bottom of the line being printed to have a different color than the rest of the line. The ImageWriter II has several test modes. And they are easy to check. Unplug the printer's serial cable while doing this testing. Plug it back in when your done. Naturally for safety's sake, you don't make or break any connection to your computer system while it or the printer is turned on. You can run the printer's built in self test if you hold down the FormFeed button while you turn the printer on. (Press and hold FormFeed, power on the printer, wait for it to finish moving the carriage then release the FormFeed button.) This will also read out the ROM revision number, the DIP switch settings, which option card is installed, and how much memory it has. Turn off the printer to stop the test. Holding down the LineFeed button while you turn the printer on will cause the carriage assembly to move back and forth without printing and without any line feeds. Test can be stopped by pressing the LineFeed button. And can be restarted by pressing the Select button. Turn off the printer to stop the test. You can run the printer's built in Loopback test (designed to test the I/O circuits) if you hold down the PrintQuality button while you turn the printer on. This will also read out the ROM revision number, the DIP switch settings, which option card is installed, and how much memory it has. Then it will start printing the test pattern. If a problem is found then the message LOOPBACK TEST FAILS will be printed. For this test to work you need an adapter plug that fits into the serial port socket that has pins 1&2 and pins 3&5 connected together. Turn off the printer to stop the test. You can put the printer in hex dump mode by holding down the Select button while turning it on. Then print a test document on continuous feed paper. You should be able to decipher the codes sent to the printer to see what's going on. Control codes and character codes will all be out put as hex numbers. Go get an ASCII chart that has the hex numbers listed to interpret the codes. This is a great diagnostic aid to see what your program is sending to the printer. --- snip --- Bartism: I will not drive the principal's car. _ _ /:\:\ /`./`/ \_\_\:/./__ (")})})})})}-- ^ <<<<~~~~ Honeybee (APISMELIFERA, 20882, GO COM A2) >>>>> There is a small lever on the right hand (looking from the front) """"" end of the printer slide bar which is meant to adjust for multi-part forms. I'm assuming you know that and have already tried adjusting it. You might not have noticed that loosening a couple of screws that hold the lever assembly in place gives you a much larger range of adjustment. :) Gary R. Utter (UTTER, 20939, GO COM A2) >>>>> There are 2 screws just in front of the head that can be carefully """"" loosened and this adjusts the distance the print head is from the platen. I usually put in 20lb bond, then carefully push the head so that it just touches the paper. Another suggestion is to clean the heads overnight, are you sure they are not gummed up a little? Good Luck. TTFN, TeeC (TEEC, 20940, GO COM A2) >>>>> They could still be dried out. Try carefully popping the top off """"" one of the ribbon carts (solid color only, NOT a multi-color ribbon!) and lightly spraying the ribbon itself with some WD-40 (and I DO mean lightly!) Put the top back on, and put the ribbon cart into a Ziplock bag for a few days. (Rotate the ribbon advance knob a few turns each day) If this ribbon works =noticeably= better, then you're running into dried out ink. -Harold HdwrNut on EFNet and AIM Posted by ProTERM Mac Messenger The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." (HAROLD_H, 20988, GO COM A2) <<<<< I agree with Harold in trying the WD-40 in the ribbon to make sure """"" you have a live one. and if that doesn't work for you, then read on... OK look at the platen adjust lever again. Looking closely at this lever you can see that it really consists of two parts that move together. There is a second part attached to it on the right hand side. That's also the side where the head of the screw is located. :-( Loosening this screw lets you change the print head adjustment range. Push the lever all the way down, loosen the screw, move the lever a little more to the lower end of it's travel and tighten. Now as you raise the lever back up the print head should be a little closer to the platen than it was before. You'll need a 5.5mm open end wrench to turn that darn screw. >Is there any control over the power to the hammer drivers? Not that I know of. >SW2-5 and 6 had no visible effect. :-( They adjust vertical print height. It's most noticeable when you're printing in high quality mode (both parts of the print quality light are on). You'll notice that the vertical overlap drifts off as you go across the page. The letters appear to be taller on one side of the page in comparison to the other. The shortest complete sentence in the English language is "I am". _ _ /:\:\ /`./`/ \_\_\:/./__ (")})})})})}-- ^ <<<<~~~~ Honeybee (APISMELIFERA, 21181, GO COM A2) >>>>> Actually switches 5,6 on an IWII make tiny adjustments in the pin """"" firing timing for bidirectional printing, so that text printed left to right lines up right with text printed right to left. They have absolutely NO effect on the vertical positioning, or on the size of the print in any print mode (such adjustment is purely mechanical, and remains the same for all print modes) You can prove this easily. Note the current positions of the switches, then print several pages with only the | (vertical line) character. Print some in mono-directional mode, and some in bidirectional mode, playing with the switches between each page. You will quickly see the horizontal shifting done by these switches. Be sure to set them to the best alignment when done (which MAY or may NOT be where they had been set originally) These switches are needed due to slight variations in gimmler drive belt and pulleys that move the print head, as well as the solenoid/hammer spacing in individual print heads, as well as variations in spring tension, power supply voltage and current capacity, etc. SOME models of the IWII have one (two?) tiny trim pots that adjust the current thru the print head, to adjust how hard the pins are struck. These should NEVER be twiddled without proper knowledge and test equipment, else damage can result to the print head, driver transistors (or monolithic driver chip in some models, etc.) Even I shy away from tweaking these, and I DO know what I'm doing and have the right kind of test equip. FWIW your previous notes here about IWII stuff impressed me, and I'm not easily impressed. Great job! :-) -Harold HdwrNut on EFNet and AIM Posted by ProTERM Mac Messenger The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." (HAROLD_H, 21201, GO COM A2) BEST AND WORST WAYS TO BACK UP A FOCUS DRIVE Okay, here goes. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" DUMP ARCHIVER. The thing is buggier than a roach convention in a cheap motel. If you're backing up to floppies (shudder), use Prosel-16, which is or should shortly be available just about everywhere as (apparently, this is still not clear to me) public domain. Archiver will break your heart. I guarantee it. - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 20885, GO COM A2) >>>>> Archiver was a wonderful idea, and it's a nice-looking, reasonably """"" well-designed product. But it's not finished, and not ready for real use. It's a terrible shame that Apple wasn't able to do another version or two of it to work the bugs out; if they had, it'd be the backup software of choice for a lot of Apple II people. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 20888, GO COM A2) <<<<< Agreed on all counts. """"" At this point, there's no reasonable use for Archiver, aside from looking nice. There's no way anyone can trust it to reliably do backups. - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 20889, GO COM A2) >>>>> Coming into this conversation late... """"" One alternative to Archiver that I used successfully for several years is UtilityWorks GS. Among its myriad of features are backup and restore utilities. I had a critical need of my backups once, and everything worked flawlessly. UtilityWorks only backs up to 800K floppies, so that may not be for everyone, but it does work. UtilityWorks is here in the Delphi library, and also available at several ftp sites. It is shareware, and worth every penny of the asking fee - especially since you can download it and register for free now at the author's web site. Unfortunately, I don't have the URL handy, as I have been a registered user for many years, and didn't take note when I saw the announcement. Don V. Zahniser (IronTooth) Try my off-line reader scripts for ANSITerm... They're OLRight! (DZAHNISER, 20949, GO COM A2) <<<<< Try: """"" http://www.wilde.org/grwsystems/ - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 20953, GO COM A2) >>>>> The UtilityWorks program is too large to be used on a bootable """"" diskette. It fits on a floppy just fine, which means that you can run it from a floppy-booted system if you need to. However, the author provided a smaller program that _will_ fit on a boot disk, expressly for restoring a backed-up system. Many versions of UtilityWorksGS that are out on ftp sites don't have the restore program included. The archive in the Delphi A2 database consists of two shrunk disk archives. One contains the programs (including the restore program) and the other contains the documentation. Try searching for 'UWGS' in the database. That should find it. I really recommend UWGS for many reasons. The backup/restore capability is just one. Don V. Zahniser (IronTooth) Try my off-line reader scripts for ANSITerm... They're OLRight! (DZAHNISER, 21157, GO COM A2) TEXT ENCODING OF APPLE II FILES "bsc" is a Binscii-encoded file that is """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" *not* compressed with ShrinkIt. Binscii is an old (rarely used these days) format for sending 8-bit binary data files over 7-bit data connections by encoding them as text (very much like uuencode, Binhex, or Base-64, which most email programs use for attachments). Dig up a binscii decoder to handle those files; ShrinkIt won't do it. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 20892, GO COM A2) >>>>> Is Binscii really rarely used now? Whenever possible I use Binscii """"" over any of the other methods because I seem to recall something about it being better than the others. :-) I absolutely love the ability to split up a file into multiple segments (for those people with small storage media and little memory) and being able to decode the file no matter what sequence the segments are decoded in. This is especially handy if you have received part two of a file and are waiting for part one to arrive. You can decode part two, delete the Binscii file (which is larger than the decoded section), and when part one arrives, decode it in the same directory and your decoded file is complete. Anyways, I was just curious if anyone is still using Binscii much. I might be able to tell by the replies that I get to this message. :-) Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ sent via | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | COG v3.0 | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 20918, GO COM A2) <<<<< Well, Binscii is totally unnecessary nowadays, so I assume it's """"" rarely used. :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 20921, GO COM A2) >>>>> I much prefer Binhex myself. . . """"" - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 20922, GO COM A2) >>>>> If you have a copy of Spectrum installed, you can decode BinSCII """"" files using the BinHQX XCMD. There are various other NDAs and applications that can handle this file type as well. But I suspect that if these are disk images of System 6.0.1, then you may have no applications at all installed. :( In which case you are going to need to get someone to send you the four disks... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Wed 3 Mar 1999 - 140 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 20927, GO COM A2) >>>>> I still usually generate a BinSCII copy of anything I upload, as """"" well as a plain ShrinkIt archive in a Binary II wrapper. I think it's still the best way to send something by email to an Apple II user. Few of us bother with the comp.binaries.apple2 newsgroup anymore, but if you wanted to upload something there, you would probably use BinSCII. It may be unnecessary in most cases, but it's still useful. -- Michael (SAR, 21100, GO COM A2) WHICH IIGS RAM CARD IS YOUR FAVORITE? This has been a very educational """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" thread. It got me asking a question though... Which RAM board is *the* best, most compatible, most reliable one out there? I've got two GS machines that I use pretty often. One is a ROM 3 equipped with a stock TWGS with a 32K cache module, PCT and a 2nd rev Sirius card. I was advised by another guru that I needed to go ahead an install the 8th SIMM (feedback on this is welcome). I'm planning to add a RAMFast to it too. My second ROM 3 GS is going to have a 12MHz 64K cache ZipGS, a RAMFast and the most reliable RAM card I can find for it. If anyone would care to share their advice on what I'm getting ready to do, please jump in. Thanks in advance! Sean (SFAHEY, 21243, GO COM A2) >>>>> The CVTech Revision B card with the piggyback slot has always been """"" my personal favorite. - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 21246, GO COM A2) >>>>> Like Ryan, my preference over the years was the CV Tech card, but """"" the one my client had kept corrupting DB files when loaded with more than 5.5 megs, ie: 4 megs CV Tech + 4 meg Ram GS. It may be that the CV Tech card has developed a problem, but I have since installed 3 Sirius 8 meg cards and, tough wood, no corruption or problems of any kind in 5 weeks of 9 hour per day use, 5 DB AW5.0. files = 6.8 megs. Of course I now have 3 - 4 meg cards to dispose of, which no one seems to want; see Free Trade Zone. TTFN, TeeC (TEEC, 21252, GO COM A2) <<<<< I have a couple of Sirius cards... one seems stable most of the """"" time but on occasion GS/OS will crash to the monitor -- I can't tell if it's the OS, the card or sunspots as it seems pretty random. What I really wish for is a serious memory checker for the Sirius card (pun?). I've been told (or did I read it somewhere?) that Bitbanger is buggy. Thanks for the advice! (SFAHEY, 21256, GO COM A2) >>>>> I have two CV-Tech cards and I've run into problems with the first """"" one I bought. (I haven't had the second one long enough to know it has problems. :) The first one I bought I got had 1 MB installed on it and I piggy-backed my Apple 1 MB card to it to give my ROM 01 machine 2.25 MB of RAM. However, the CV-Tech card had a slight curve to it when looking down on it while it was installed in my IIgs. I was running into some weird problems and I finally ended up putting a plastic spacer between the CV-Tech card and the Apple card to help straighten out the board and to avoid any electrical contact between the cards. This seemed to fix my problem and I ran happily like this for years. Later I ended up getting an old 386 motherboard for free and it had 4 MB of 1 meg x 1 RAM chips on it. I took 3 MB from there and fully populated my CV-Tech card to give me a total of 5.25 MB of RAM. This continued to work great up until late last year. When I received a large shipment of Apple II stuff last year, I ended up getting two complete IIgs systems. One had a CV-Tech card with 1 MB installed and a 4 MB GS-RAM and the other just had a 4 MB GS-RAM. I took one of the GS-RAM cards and put it in place of my Apple 1 MB card of my CV-Tech card to give me 8.25 MB of RAM but I didn't put my plastic spacer back in. I also grabbed one of the RamFAST SCSI cards and threw it into my machine at the same time because I was using some weird SCSI card possibly made or distributed by AMR. However, shortly after doing this I noticed that file copies of large amounts of data would hang my machine and I had other flakey behaviour as well. I took out the GS-RAM and dropped down to 4.25 MB of RAM and everything went back to normal. Now I'm going to make sure my RamFAST's Transwarp and DMA settings are correct as has been recently discussed and also put my plastic spacer back in there and hopefully I'll be back to using 8.25 MB of RAM again because it sure was nice when it worked. :-) Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ sent using | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | COG v3.0 | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 21278, GO COM A2) >>>>> The card that Bob Consorti made is probably IT. I don't remember """"" the name of it off hand, but I know someone who has one who would probably sell. Bob's mistake was in overbuilding the card. It's beautiful to look at (for the trained eye), everything is JUST right. It's a three layer card with an excellent job of finishing. (Hmmm, I think the name is On Board. Bob's company was On Three, so that sounds right.) I never EVER heard of anyone having a problem with this card, and I swear half the Apple II people on CIS a decade ago were using one. Gary R. Utter (UTTER, 21287, GO COM A2) >>>>> Well, after extensive testing tonight, I've discovered that it was """"" my fault and not the CV-Tech card's that was causing my problem. After playing around with different RamFAST settings, RAM disk sizes and constantly rebooting after hangs, crashes and weird error messages from the RamFAST, I started swapping memory cards around to see what worked and what didn't. Here is what I ended up getting things down to: o RAM-GS by itself worked fine o RAM-GS in 4 MB CV-Tech didn't work o RAM-GS in 1 MB CV-Tech worked fine o 4 MB CV-Tech card by itself didn't work It was this last point that really got me. At this point, I figured I must have some bad RAM on the 4 MB CV-Tech. However, for some reason I did yet another visual inspection of my CV-Tech cards as I was thinking of starting to swap 1 MB at a time between my two cards when I noticed that the jumper settings were the same on both cards even though one had 1 MB installed and the other had 4 MB installed. As I couldn't find my CV-Tech documentation quickly I figured I would just be logical about it and changed my jumper settings on the 4 MB card from: A B C A B C 2 === to 2 === 1 === 1 === I then set up my machine with the RAM-GS in the 4 MB CV-Tech card and everything worked fine. This was with DMA = Yes and Transwarp = No in my RamFAST settings, in case anyone was wondering. I'm a happy 8.25 MB camper again. :-) Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ sent via | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | COG v3.0 | now in session | now in session | (JBLAKENEY, 21371, GO COM A2) WEBWORKS GS FEATURES WANTED Sheppy, """"""""""""""""""""""""""" I'm really enjoying WebWorksGS! Nice program. Here's one suggestion though (you may have considered this already): I think it would be nice if there was an option which allowed input of the html codes ,

,etc... in a different text color. This would offset them from the user's text in the source window. I think I recall BBEdit did something similar to this (I haven't used BBEdit in a _long_ time though...it may have been another editor :). I realize that this would probably be easier to implement for the html codes/commands input from the pull-down menus. It would be much harder to implement for codes typed in directly by the user. Still, I think it might be a nice touch. What do you think? Just a suggestion. Now, I need to get over to an html web site to learn more about what I can do with WebWorksGS! Thanks! Paul. Paul Schultz schultp@delphi.com sent your way via Spectrum 2.2 and Crock O' Gold 2.6 (SCHULTP, 21114, GO COM A2) >>>>> That would be nice, wouldn't it. :) """"" I'll put that on the list of things to consider doing. Thanks for the idea. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21122, GO COM A2) NOT SHIFTYLIST, SHIFTY LIST I'd like to take a moment to correct an error """"""""""""""""""""""""""" I see a lot. People tend to incorrectly write the title of my Apple IIgs utility Shifty List as "ShiftyList." There is a space in the name of the product (and this is important to me, as I've actually registered the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office under that name). I'd appreciate it if people (especially those making recommendations or printing articles) spell it correctly. Thanks! Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21473, GO COM A2) DOS 3.3 REFRESHER COURSE Unlike ProDOS, DOS 3.3 did not put the operating """""""""""""""""""""""" system in files that show in the directory. Rather, the first three tracks of each disk contained the operating system, and the catalog track was also fixed. From Basic, you would do an "INIT HELLO[,S6][,D1]" to initialize a disk in the default drive or the drive specified by the optional S(lot) and D(rive) parameters. This would format the disk and put a copy of the operating system then in memory on the disk and set up an empty directory. It would also set "HELLO" as the name of the first program to run. (It didn't have to be "HELLO" but that was the example given, and most people just went along.) There were utilities to initialize "data" disks, which contained no DOS, and freed up two of the three DOS tracks. These utilities usually put a small program on the first track to put a message on the screen if you tried to boot from a data disk. Converting a data disk to a boot disk required you do a complete reformat. With ProDOS, you need a utility program to initialize a disk, and by default, it is a data disk. You can turn it into a boot disk by putting a copy of the "PRODOS" file on the disk. ProDOS will automatically look for a System file to run, and this will usually be "BASIC.SYSTEM" which provides the BASIC disk commands and interface to BASIC. On a GSOS boot disk, the PRODOS file is a program to start the GSOS boot process, and the Real PRODOS is hidden in the System folder and named P8. -- Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Fri 5 Mar 99 10:18:14 pm cknoblo@novia.net - Via Spectrum v2.2 & Crock O' Gold v2.6 Using Marinetti 2.0 - Transmit timing off. KansasFest 11, July 21-25, 1999 - 138 days till KFest (CKNOBLO, 21056, GO COM A2) >>>>> I'd like to add one small clarification to that. The "boot" program """"" (HELLO in your example) that is saved to disk is whatever Applesoft program is resident in RAM at the time the INIT command is issued. For example, if one wants to make a bootable disk with a specific menu program, one first loads the menu program into RAM, then performs the INIT process. Alternatively, once the INIT is done, the HELLO program can be replaced with any new Applesoft program by saving it to the disk under the HELLO filename. I know that you know this already. I just wanted to make that a bit clearer. FWIW, I still use DOS 3.3 quite a bit in my Eamon gaming activities. Many of the Eamon club members don't use their Apple II's for anything but Eamon any more, and many of them never bothered to upgrade to the ProDOS versions of the Eamon games (partly because less than half of the Eamon list was converted.) TomZ (TOMZUSKI, 21105, GO COM A2) HOW TO CONVERT FROM APPLEWORKS TO WORD I'd say, try to read that files in """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" to ClarisWorks (better the Mac version). There should be saved/kept the original formats. Then, save the new ClarisWorks files as WP files. That should work. Good luck, Ulrich [ Delivered by ProTERM Message Manager (PTMM) v2.5.3 ] (UHAUSMANN, 21460, GO COM A2) >>>>> Guessing you're talking about an Appleworks 5 word processing """"" document, I'd use AWP to RTF by Kitchen Sink Software, a Macintosh program, to make the file into an RTF file, then import it into the appropriate word processor. - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 21476, GO COM A2) >>>>> Or if you have a IIgs, you could use WebWorks GS to convert the """"" AppleWorks 5 file into HTML, then load that up in Word; I think Word can handle HTML. :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21495, GO COM A2) COG 3.0 WOWS This is my first message posted from COG3, and I just have """""""""""" to say, "Wow!" I don't where to start ranting and raving ;-) The Hierarchic Menus are way cool. The spell checker works great! Actually, the first thing I noticed is just how much faster it seems. In COG2, it seemed to take a few seconds for the next message to appear on screen, but in COG3, it seems to take only a few microseconds for the next message to appear. There's a lot to explore here Ewen, and I look forward to checking it all out ;-) Thank you for COG3! And, a note to those of you who own NiftySpell: Now that the NiftySpell XCMD for Spectrum is actually being used, something that Chris wrote in the NiftySpell manual makes a whole lot more sense to me, now that I've finally seen it with my own eyes. When a spell check is performed from within COG3 by choosing "Spell Check" from the Edit menu, the NiftySpell XCMD is invoked from scripts, and that works a little differently than if you'd chosen NiftySpell from the Apple Pull Down Menu. Although both access methods perform the same "Check Window" spell check, when choosing to "Spell Check" from the Edit menu...if everything is spelled correctly, you will not actually see the NiftySpell spell check interface. In other words, you will only see the NiftySpell spell check interface window if you spelled something wrong. If everything is spelled correctly, you'll see the watch cursor for a second or three, which shows you that a spell check is being performed, and then you'll be returned to the Insert cursor. This method works much, much faster than if NiftySpell is called up via the NDA. On the other hand, if you would prefer to see visual feedback and want to see NiftySpell go through the process of spell checking, continue using the NDA interface for spell checks. Joe Kohn (JOE_KOHN, 21248, GO COM A2) AND WOBBLES Please accept my apologies that you have had a problem """"""""""" installing COG3. However all is not lost (see below), as it was only the Installer script that was at fault here! I have now fixed all the problems, and posted a fresh update of the whole archive to my home pages. This is now dated as 9th March. Hopefully I have caught the Delphi librarian in time, so only the updated version will get posted here! These bugs did not show up during Beta testing, as in the main we were drag copying the files. The resource error was actually due to the updated XCMDs not being copied over. So for those few who downloaded the 8th March version of COG3, you need to check these actions: 1. If you choose to update from COG2, drag a copy of the Taglines file in the 'Contributed:Jeff.Carr' folder to the 'COG2:Configs' folder of your existing COG before you install. 2. If you choose to use your existing phone number, it must have no spaces in it. Just edit any spaces to hyphens. 3. After you have installed COG3, but before you run it, copy the XCMDs you will find in the 'Add.Ons:XCMDs' folder of the archive into the 'Add.Ons:XCMDs' folder of your working Spectrum 2.2. All should be well after you have done that... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Tue 9 Mar 1999 - 134 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing at 55Mhz on a G3/350 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 21204, GO COM A2) >>>>> I don't know what I did wrong, but something bit me big time with """"" the update to 3.0. It started when I couldn't download the file from Compuserve. Actually, I could download it using the Mac, but I couldn't figure out how to get the GS to convert it to a .bxy file so that I could expand it. I then successfully transferred the file to Delphi, but couldn't download it from my workspace (the transfers were all aborted by Delphi) using either Zmodem or Xmodem and Spectrum. I eventually retrieved the file from the library using Kermit (over one and a half hours, yechh!). This was of course recognized as a bxy file and unshrunk readily. I then could not get the installer to run (application not recognized was the error message I think), so I ran the script from within Spectrum. Everything appeared to go fine, so I attempted to run COG and got a "resource could not be load/unloaded" error message. Rebooting and trying again got the same message. Running Start.cog from within Spectrum gave the same error. I am using Spectrum 2.2, but from within Bernie, so I may not have all the files that I need to successfully run this update, especially as I noted that the scripts appear to be compiled. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might be missing, or might have done wrong? David R. Pierce (DAVID_PIERCE, 21369, GO COM A2) <<<<< The files on my home pages are all BinSCII files, so they can be """"" downloaded over 7 bit links. The file uploaded to Delphi is a standard .BXY file. To decode BinSCII (and BinHex 4.0, UUencode or Base64), you need to open Spectrum and decode the file from the Decode item on the Extras menu. Once unpacked, you should have a folder called Crock.O.Gold. The Installer is a Spectrum script which will start Spectrum when you double click it. However if you have never started Spectrum by double-clicking in the Finder, the Finder will now know which program to start! You only need to do this once, and it to work for you every time after that. But running the Installer from Spectrum is just fine. But you then got a resource error. This sounds to me like the bug that hit the first version of COG3 that I put on my web pages. That version should not have made it to Delphi. The correct version of COG3 is dated 10th March. The bug caused the Installer to not copy the updated XCMDs over to your working Spectrum 2.2 'Add.Ons:XCMDs' folder. Manually copying the files should solve that problem. Running COG3 from within Bernie causes no problems. In fact all the online tests for COG3 were developed using Bernie... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Sat 13 Mar 1999 - 130 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing at 55Mhz on a G3/350 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 21379, GO COM A2) >>>>> So that is what I should have done :) I'll have to try and """"" remember that for the next time something like this comes up. Delphi is not the easiest place to get files from (: As to the resource error: I copied over the Add-Ons to Spectrum and I am now writing this in COG3! Whoo-we, boy is this thing fast! The messages just jump up, and replying is much improved (and I didn't think there wasn't anything wrong with version 2.6). I love the English "Queue". It fully captures just what that button should do. :) Oh, yes, my version of COG3 would appear to be dated March 10. Does that sound right? Unless something else shows up, this is one happy camper. David R. Pierce (DAVID_PIERCE, 21383, GO COM A2) TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT THE TRANSWARP GS The v1.8S ROM was, to my """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" knowledge, the last ROM ever released by AE, and is the one I have on all my own TWGSs. TC4 and TC5 must be =cut= IF 32k of cache memory is installed. If 8k of cache is installed then they must NOT be cut. You say you have the 8/32 cache card, but don't note the part number of the SRAMS installed on that card, so I can't say if you have 8k or 32k of cache. (Note: All three SRAM chips should be the same part number, make, and speed (and preferably same lot number, though this is NOT as critical as type, make, and speed). If they aren't then problems are very likely to occur) FWIW, if you have 32k and TC4 and 5 are jumpered, the TWGS will crash. If you have 8k and TC4 and 5 are cut, the TWGS will crash. This =might= be your problem. -Harold HdwrNut on EFNet and AIM Posted by ProTERM Mac Messenger The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way." (HAROLD_H, 21365, GO COM A2) AND NOW A FEW WORDS ON LOCALTALK The quick & dirty way to set up a """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" network with a Mac and GS: 1. The Hardware. You need two localtalk network connectors and a cable to connect them. The connectors have a short wire hanging out that plugs into any serial port on your GS or Mac; you need one for each. They come in two flavors called LocalTalk and PhoneNet. These work the same. The difference is that LocalTalk connectors use a shielded coaxial cable, so they may work a little better in an electrically noisy environment. PhoneNet uses standard phone connectors, so it's cheap. You can get either one from just about any Macintosh supplier. 2. The Mac. Turn on file sharing. Under System 8.5 you use the File Sharing Control Panel to do this. Enable sharing for the drives of folders that you want to be able to access from the Apple IIGS. From System 8.5, you do this from the Sharing... submenu of the GetInfo menu item in the Finder's File menu. In System 7.5, I think there is a menu item right in the file menu, but I don't remember the exact name. 3. The GS. Turn on AppleTalk using the AppleTalk control panel. You'll see your Mac listed by name; once you select it, you will see the hard drives that are shared listed. You can sign on to any or all of them. There are several steps involved in setting up the software, but the menus I mentioned bring up dialogs that step you through it fairly well. Once everything is set up, the Mac drives appear on your GS desktop as if they were local disks, except the icon is a bit different. You can read files, write files, delete files... anything you want to do that you gave yourself permission to do when you set up sharing on the Macintosh. Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 21347, GO COM A2) SO WHICH //E IS WHICH? How to tell an original //e from a later //e: """""""""""""""""""""" Original //e On boot it displays Apple ][e Chip set includes: CPU 6502 Video ROM 342-0133 EF ROM 342-0134 CD ROM 342-0135 Enhanced //e On boot it displays Apple //e Chip set includes: CPU 65c02 Video ROM 342-0265 EF ROM 342-0303 CD ROM 342-0304 The Platinum //e are all enhanced and have an extended keyboard with a numeric keypad on the right side. The CD and EF ROMs are combined into a single chip. The 342-0265 Video chip is still used for the video display. Instead of a 65c02 CPU chip you may find one labeled 6503. The eight RAM chips were replaced with two chips. You may also find these motherboards in some of the last beige //e. Owen (OWENA, 21810, GO COM A2) GARY ON CHANGING A IIGS KEYBOARD KEYSWITCH The keyswitch is soldered to """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the circuit board. They are interchangeable. If this is the only key that has failed, you might want to consider swapping it with another you don't use, perhaps something from the keypad. Gary R. Utter (UTTER, 21755, GO COM A2) SCSI ID JUMPER BASICS The jumpers for SCSI drives ID selection are """"""""""""""""""""" virtually always a set of three jumpers which in combination can yield any ID number 0 thru 7. So, the first jumper represents the 'value' = 1, the second the 'value' = 2, and the third the 'value' = 4. Get some jumper blocks and experiment with your row of jumpers. Then, go into your RamFast utilities (if you have a RamFast :) and see what ID number the drive has. The easiest method is to use a single jumper block and try one of the positions on the end of your row of jumpers. If you get a valid SCSI ID value you know which end of the row handles the SCSI IDs. The adjacent two positions will handle the other 'values'. If you get an ID of zero (or your drive behaves oddly), you have jumpered the positions not responsible for SCSI ID selection, so go to the other end of the row of jumpers and you should be set! Remember, having no jumpers across the SCSI ID positions will give you an ID of zero. If you don't have any other devices with this ID you could just go ahead and format your drive and use it 'as is'. However, if you want to have other devices on your SCSI chain it is probably worthwhile to do the detective work and determine the SCSI ID positions. Finally, your drive manufacturer may have the tech specs for your drive on their web site. Check this first, it may save you the trouble altogether! Good luck, Paul. schultp@delphi.com (SCHULTP, 21808, GO COM A2) RUMOR MILL """""""""" GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS FROM WDC NEWS FLASH """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I just talked to Western Design about ordering the 65816-14's. There is GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS. Good News first ... The price has dropped to only $6.18 each. The Bad News ... They will only accept $100.00 minimum orders. ... and the shipping to only one address will be about $5.00. CHunk CHunk_S Your A2 Forum Host Delivered by OLRight! (v4.0) scripts for ANSITerm for the Apple IIgs (CHUNK_S, 21301, GO COM A2) THINKING ABOUT SSII ON CD ROM The following message is of the 'thinking """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" out loud' variety... For months, I've been toying with the idea of creating a brand new Shareware Solutions II CD-ROM that, in a sense, picks up where Golden Orchard and TABBS left off. Since those two CDs have been released, a lot of new software has appeared, and then again, I have a lot of really classic and wonderful software that wasn't included on either of those CD-ROM collections. I'm also thinking that the time has come for there to be a CD-ROM collection that would include "ready to run" software that isn't compressed with ShrinkIt. As it is, I've been distributing freeware, shareware and public domain Apple II software for 12 years now, through the Source, and Big Red Computer Club, and through Shareware Solutions II, and as you can imagine, I've acquired quite a collection of Apple II disks over the years. I don't yet know that I have a grand total of 650 megs of unique software, but it's quite possible that I do have nearly that much that has not been made available before on CD-ROM. I have a little problem though, so I thought I'd mention it here... I do not currently own the hardware that I would need in order to organize the software, nor do I have a CD-R. So, I would need to purchase two pieces of hardware for this project: - I would need to have a SCSI hard drive with a capacity of 700 megs (give or take), and since the actual burning of the CD-R would take place on a 33 Mhz 68030 Mac, that drive would need to be AV rated. It would need to be fully assembled, in a case with a power supply. As envisioned, the hard drive would be formatted on the Mac, but all the organization and file copying would take place on the IIGS...so the drive would have to work with (and have drivers available for) the Mac and it would have to work with an Apple High Speed SCSI Card. - I would also need a SCSI CD-R that burns CDs at 2X, and that would work on, and have software for, the 33 Mhz 68030. If you or anyone you know has, or will have in the future, such equipment for sale, at a reasonable and affordable price, please get in touch with me. Thanks! Again, this is just an idea I am toying with. Since I'm currently distributing the other CD-ROM collections, I think I have a general idea about potential sales, and because of those projections, the cost of the hardware will really be the prime determinant as to whether this CD-ROM fantasy becomes a reality. Joe Kohn http://www.crl.com/~joko (JOE_KOHN, 20978, GO COM A2) BASIC INSTINCTS What you want is something like Windows' MS-DOS prompt """"""""""""""" that can be either windowed or full-screen, right? I've wanted this for a long time myself. I discussed this possibility on comp.sys.apple2 a year or two ago, mostly with Nathan Mates, about how to go about it and how well it would work. Nathan was of the opinion that is would be too slow to be worthwhile. I still think it is possible but I never got very far in my work on it. Besides, I wasn't thinking of it being a replacement for dropping into ProDOS but rather as a convenience feature so that you could run a ProDOS 8 program while remaining in GS/OS so that you can continue to use NDAs, CDEVs and such. I still have all the messages and probably a few other notes and stuff I made lying around here somewhere and would like to go back to it again one of these days but I have other projects to finish first. As I am now a full-time, work from home, contract programmer, I should finally start getting some of these projects off of my rather large to do list. :-) If anyone wants to discuss the technical details of doing something like this, I would like to suggest we talk about it in the A2Pro forum. (I need more stuff to add to the A2Pro web page come the end of the month. :) Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 21016, GO COM A2) >>>>> I'm in 100% agreement with Nathan. Since GS/OS and the toolbox """"" require full use of Bank 0, there is no way to run ProDOS 8 applications at the same time. To achieve running ProDOS 8 apps, you would have write an Apple //e emulator for the IIgs. There is no way an accelerated IIgs can emulate a //e as fast as a real //e to make this even worthwhile (not to mention lack of screen resolution to put a 80x24 text screen in a window and other stuff). Geoff (SISGEOFF, 21065, GO COM A2) >>>>> While this is true, it misses the point. Applesoft is not a ProDOS """"" 8 application; only BASIC.SYSTEM is. Applesoft BASIC is actually a rather polite set of code. It depends on hooks for I/O, and really only uses pages 0 and 1 of bank zero. You would have to locate the Applesoft program and variables somewhere in bank 0, but Applesoft isn't fussy about _where_ you put them. In short, you could hack Applesoft to work in an NDA, although as I pointed out earlier, you can't expect 8 bit based PEEK, POKE, CALL, & packages or disk I/O to work, which reduces the usefulness of Applesoft by a lot. Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 21127, GO COM A2) >>>>> Well, currently there are 2 options: """"" 1) There is an Applesoft Basic CDA (written by Dave Lyons) which gives you Applesoft in the CDA menu, with a few limitations (no loading/saving, no graphics). 2) Use GSoft. Conceivably, you could run GSoft from GNO/ME via the tmterm NDA which would give you GNO in a window ala xterm or a dos box. (KWS, 21031, GO COM A2) >>>>> Applesoft itself is actually pretty easy to hack to the point it """"" will run under GS/OS, or any other environment. The problem is that Applesoft PEEK, POKE, CALL and & commands are likely to crash GS/OS, assuming you can even load the & package, and BASIC.SYSTEM is not available, meaning that you have no disk I/O at all. So yes, it can be done, but it wouldn't be very useful. If there was any reason, GSoft BASIC could be stuck into a window pretty easily. It would run most of the Applesoft programs that didn't suffer from the problems I already cited. On the other hand, it's already available, runs from the Finder, and is free. Why put it into a window and suffer decreased speed and decreased resolution? Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 21055, GO COM A2) >>>>> I could see a lot of potential for an NDA version of GSoft BASIC, """"" where you could do GSoft stuff in a window while using other applications. A *lot* of potential. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21059, GO COM A2) >>>>> I can't see developing BASIC NDAs. This would essentially be """"" something that looked a lot like GSoft.SYS16, but running in a window as an NDA, right? Of course, it would be limited. You couldn't run a desktop program this way. To be safe, you might want to disable starting and stopping tools, or at least have a preference that the user would have to disable to allow tool startup and shutdown. What would you use this for that wouldn't work just as well (and a lot safer!) from GSoft.Sys16? Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 21129, GO COM A2) >>>>> I wouldn't expect to run desktop applications. But it would be """"" fantastic as a nice, easy scripting language for use in the Finder and other Apple IIgs desktop applications. A BASIC program could be set up easily to do IPC to interact with applications, delete, copy, and move files, and so forth. Kind of a poor-man's AppleScript for the IIgs. Have the NDA support running GSoft programs upon receipt of an IPC message (tellGSoftDARunThis or something), and you have an instant plugin manager for other software, that would let users add simple addons to other software by simply writing code in GSoft BASIC. GSoft programs wouldn't be able to set up their own menu bars, but they could do straight text I/O, create their own windows and dialogs, do disk and file I/O, printing, Standard File, and so forth. It could also be a great debugging and testing tool. Write a little GSoft program that sends IPC messages or posts events following a particular, preprogrammed plan, to test out code in an application you're writing. The possibilities are endless. These are all things people have been wanting to be able to do -- there's a lot of advantage in having them doable using a language we already have, instead of requiring some other scripting language. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 21136, GO COM A2) <<<<< Wasn't there an NDA that, when you ran your desktop program from """"" GNO/ME, would let you access the GNO command line? If so, you could always run under GNO/ME all the time and when in a desktop app, use that NDA to access the GNO shell and use GSoft from there. Just a thought. I have no idea if this would actually work. :) Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 21095, GO COM A2) TIDBITS ON THE IIC+ A complete (that's subjective) and cosmetically """"""""""""""""""" preserved working //c+ will fetch $50 - $75, maybe more depending on peripherals. (SFAHEY, 20903, GO COM A2) >>>>> You're kidding. Somebody really paid $300 for a IIc+? That is """"" amazing. I hope they knew what they were getting. IMHO (you get what you pay for, and that includes my opinions) a IIc+ plus color monitor is worth about $30-50. And at that I would feel bound to make sure that the prospective buyer understood what he was getting. TomZ (TOMZUSKI, 21106, GO COM A2) >>>>> Well Tom, I am soon to be in the market for a //c+. AFTER my """"" purchase of a friend's PB1400c. Why? With the PB1400c, Bernie to the Rescue, the //c+, C-Vue screen, and a 5-1/4" drive; I figure I could have ALL the bases covered as the Apple Librarian for my local User Group. -and- Avoid a Hernia... - Fat Mike (MBROUI11ETTE, 21160, GO COM A2) >>>>> At my local "Goodwill" store in Santa Ana, California, I recently """"" bought TWO Apple ][c+'s for $5.00 each. Most of the people that come into this computer store do not know what they are. I like the Apple ][c+. I have over the last two or three years found homes for the Apple ][c+'s with senior citizens that would like to get into using a computer. With monitor and ImageWriter ][ and free tutoring, I sell this setup for $80.00. Apple used equipment is still useful to many people. Mack Duncan (MACKDUNCAN, 21215, GO COM A2) >>>>> The IIc+ might be more "common" than one might think. About two """"" years ago I was frequenting garage sales and managed to pick up 5 of these little gems. I paid in a range of $10-$40 depending on the extras. I spoke with the people selling these computers and each of five sellers said that they had gotten the computer "free" for opening an account at a local bank (I imagine it was a year or two after the IIc+ came out). So, I still haven't found anyone that "bought" one new. Due to pressures of a new job and a wife that does not understand the pleasure of collecting computers, I've had to taper off my purchases. (JDKEIM, 21772, GO COM A2) PUBLIC POSTINGS """"""""""""""" NOW WHAT WAS THAT TABBS CD ROM AGAIN? TABBS is an acronym for The Apple """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Bulletin Board System, the British based BBS system that was operated for many years by none other than Sir Ewen Wannop. That BBS, which is no longer in operation, was run to benefit the members of several different Apple User Groups in the UK. When the BBS was shut down, Ewen collected together every file that had ever been uploaded to the BBS and/or made available for download. He then added every user group library disk that had been distributed by those British groups, and before he was finished, he also added all of the monthly HyperStudio-based newsletters and Disk of the Months from the British Apple IIGS User Group. And, that's the TABBS CD-ROM. With little fanfare, Ewen released the TABBS CD-ROM at Kfest '98, and it's been available ever since from Shareware Solutions II, for $25, which includes postage to anywhere. Ewen himself refers to the TABBS CD-ROM as a historical collection. And indeed it is, as it contains software and information collected over an 18 year period. And, because it consists of files that had been uploaded to a BBS, most of the files are ShrinkIt archives. TABBS consists of a single HFS partition, and in addition to the Apple II and IIGS software, there's also some historical Mac and PC software that had also been uploaded to the BBS. Orders for the TABBS CD-ROM can be sent to: Shareware Solutions II 166 Alpine St San Rafael, CA 94901 Joe Kohn http://www.crl.com/~joko (JOE_KOHN, 21066, GO COM A2) SSII IN REVIEW I was a little surprised to hear at the Monday night chat """""""""""""" that several folks had never heard of the LemminGS game. For that reason, I've put together a listing of all the commercial software available from Shareware Solutions II. You can find many more details, including costs and ordering info, from the Shareware Solutions II site at http://www.crl.com/~joko (or feel free to ask about anything here). - Shareware Solutions II is a 20 page Apple II newsletter that has been published since mid-1993. - NiftySpell is an amazing and useful New Desk Accessory for the Apple IIGS that adds a spell checker to all standard GS/OS programs!!! - The TABBS CD-ROM is a massive collection of Apple II software that was collected by the British-based Apple II BBS over a span of 18 years! The TABBS CD-ROM was compiled by Ewen Wannop, author of Spectrum. - WebWorks GS is an HTML editor for the Apple IIGS written by Eric (Sheppy) Shepherd. - The Golden Orchard CD-ROM for the Apple II computer is considered by many to be _the_ Apple II CD-ROM to have. - Shifty List 2.0.2 is Eric Shepherd's wonderful GS/OS utility that gives you complete control over what Inits, DAs, Extensions, graphics and sounds will be loaded by GS/OS during a Shift-Boot. - Harmonie is a set of GS/OS printer drivers that allow the use of HP DeskJet and LaserJet printers on an Apple IIGS. - Pointless allows you to use TrueType fonts in GS/OS. - Addressed For Success is a IIGS desktop-based mailing list and labeling program. - CheckWorks provides a complete checking account system for use within AppleWorks Classic v3 - v5.1 - Script-Central was Resource-Central's HyperCard based newsletter on disk. All back issues available on 3.5" disk or CD-ROM. - Studio City was Resource-Central's HyperStudio based newsletter on disk. All back issues available on 3.5" disk or CD-ROM. - Contacts GS is a name and address database contained within a New Desk Accessory. - Brutal Deluxe's Convert 3200 is the fastest IIGS graphics conversion program ever written for the IIGS. The source code is available. Included as a FREE bonus is "Brutal Deluxe's LemminGS," a truly wonderful game. - Better Safe Than Sorry is a HyperCard IIGS based stack that teaches children about safety. (JOE_KOHN, 21657, GO COM A2) CROCK O' GOLD 3.0 HITS THE STREETS As announced in the RTC last night: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Crock O' Gold version 3.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Major upgrade to the Delphi OLR for Spectrum Now fully compatible with Marinetti 2.0 Improved message parsing speeds up message reading Improved handling of 'Next thread' function Improved 'Search' function Auto-extract for encoded mail files Compiled scripts for extra speed Many cosmetic changes to give a cleaner interface Option items are now in Hierarchic menus Many more custom options to tailor COG to your needs Powerful new 'Threads' feature to read individual messages Main and Alternate Forum option lists for flexible sessions Auto session abort if 'synchronising' fails Faster posting of mail and messages Improved manual abort of a running session Improved dialogs assist message creation Improved interface for 'attached' files Improved handling of 'Nicknames' Improved Address Book functions New 'Housekeeping' feature to handle archived files Powerful 'Search' feature of 'cleaned' files Support for 'Tagfiles' of any length New 'Log' file keeps a record of your sessions Auto monthly archiving of Billing and Log files Internal support for NiftySpell Installer optionally updates from an existing COG 2.x Many other improvements, which are all explained in the... Totally rewritten !Help! documentation COG3 requires Spectrum 2.2 COG3 represents a quantum leap in your favourite OLR Download COG3 from Delphi or my Home pages: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watch out for its release later this week. If you have yet updated to Spectrum 2.2, get your order to immediately... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Tue 2 Mar 1999 - 141 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 20887, GO COM A2) GSAIM UPDATE gsAIM Updated to Version 1.1 """""""""""" gsAIM, the Apple IIgs AOL Instant Messenger-compatible NDA, has been updated to version 1.1! This $10 shareware desk accessory lets you carry on up to 20 one-on-one conversations with friends or colleagues, right on your Apple IIgs desktop. All you need is an AOL account or a free AIM account, System 6.0.1, and Marinetti 2.0 (with a working connection to an ISP, of course). This new version of gsAIM fixes a couple of bugs (so more people should be able to get connected) and supports "warnings." If someone sends you an inappropriate message, you can now "warn" them. If they get warned too many times, their account is closed. This innovative feature of AOL Instant Messenger is one of the nicest things about it; it helps keep the wilder element of the Web off your desktop by giving you the power to respond when someone is out of line. Of course, you can be warned, too, and gsAIM 1.1 will tell you if it happens. (This is of course a standard AIM feature; gsAIM just did not previously provide access to it). You can try a limited version of gsAIM -- without support for saving buddy lists or your preferences -- by visiting . After you've tried it, just fill out the included registration form and mail it in, or visit my online ordering page at to pay the fee by credit card online. Note to users that have already registered the software: your current registration code is still valid, just replace the gsAIM NDA with the one from this package. If you have questions about gsAIM, don't hesitate to email me: sheppy@sheppyware.net. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 20937, GO COM A2) IMAGEMAKER DEBUTS Create Disk Image Files on the Apple IIgs! """"""""""""""""" The latest SheppyWare creation, ImageMaker 1.0, lets you create DiskCopy 4.2 and Universal Disk Image (also known as 2IMG or 2MG) files right on your Apple IIgs. Simply select a disk to create an image of, and ImageMaker will create the image file in the format of your choice. For the first time, you can create standard disk images from your Apple IIgs disks without using a Macintosh! DiskCopy 4.2 supports floppy disk formats (800k and 1440k) only. Universal Disk Image format can be used for any size disk, from floppies to hard disks, in any GS/OS mountable format (including ProDOS and HFS both). Both of these disk image formats can be mounted in emulators such as Bernie ][ the Rescue in Mac OS and Sweet16 in BeOS. ImageMaker is shareware, and costs $5.00 in US currency. You can register your copy by visiting . If you find this software useful, please pay the shareware fee, to support my continuing efforts at creating fine Apple II software. Visit for more information and to download your copy. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 20958, GO COM A2) SPRINGTIME MAKES A MAN'S THOUGHTS TURN TO JUICED.GS GreetinGS! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Let's see now. It's March, and the middle of the month is here. That means a new issue of Juiced.GS should be arriving in subscriber mail boxes RSN. Could that, in fact, be true? YES! YES! YES! The March '99 issue (Volume 4, Issue 1) was delivered to the printer on Friday morning. The printer (bless their hearts) reported the job would be finished on Monday. If, indeed, I am able to pick up the magazines Monday, they will be prepared for mailing and dropped at the post office beginning on Tuesday morning. Goodness, Juiced.GS is darn near as reliable as the IIGS it supports. :-) I'll report back on the status of the mailing process Monday or Tuesday. Meanwhile, I think everyone is going to enjoy this issue. Our usual contributors (and a few new ones) worked very hard preparing outstanding material for this issue, and I'm real anxious to get their work into subscribers' hands. I hope you all will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Max Jones Juiced.GS http://www.wbwip.com/juiced.gs (JUICEDGS, 21412, GO COM A2) <<<<< Announcing ... """"" ===== Juiced.GS, Volume 4, Issue 1 ===== The March 1999 edition of Juiced.GS, the Apple II world's premier IIGS-specific magazine, is now in subscriber mail boxes. This issue was mailed to 210 subscribers in 44 states and numerous points around the globe. Here's what you'll find in this issue: ============ FEATURES Cover Story: The Virtual GS ... Ryan Suenaga introduces you to the best and most complete Apple IIGS emulator for the Power Macintosh, Bernie ][ The Rescue. This article traces the history of Bernie development gives users a primer on using disk images to get the emulator up and running. Programming: Delving deeper into GSoft BASIC ... Part 2 in our in-depth tutorial from Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd on the latest, greatest BASIC implementation for the GS. The author again offers advice and direction to both beginners and advanced programmers who want to learn more about what GSoft BASIC has to offer and how it performs its coding magic. Hardware: An Ethernet solution ... Geoff Weiss, better known co-author of Spectrum Internet Suite, shares his experiences in getting his IIGS connected to his home Ethernet network using Marinetti 2.0 (TCP/IP for the IIGS) and an Internet router from Cisco Systems. COLUMNS Telecommunications: Playing the "Shell" game, Part 2 ... Tony Ward explains the fine points of reading Usenet newsgroups from the IIGS using Unix newsreaders available from your Internet Service Provider's shell. My Home Page: Emulation expands our horizons ... A few thoughts from the editor on the new issue of Juiced.GS and its interesting and informative contents. II Be Named Later: Our columnist, Ryan Suenaga, goes retro with his '70s computer. DEPARTMENTS Shareware Spotlight: gsAIM, the Instant Messenger program for the IIGS and Marinetti 2.0, is in the spotlight with a review from none other than Tony Diaz, everybody's favorite Apple II technician for Alltech Electronics. DumplinGS: Lots of news from around the Apple II world, including details about Kfest '99, the public domain release of ProSel 16 and ProSel 8, and the upgrade of GSoft BASIC to Version 1.2. Letters from the Land of Rom: Juiced.GS readers ask questions, get answers, wax eloquently about the human condition and otherwise tell us what's on their minds. ============ Juiced.GS is a quarterly, printed publication available by subscription only. A subscription for 1999 is $14 in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, $20 elsewhere. SPECIAL OFFER: Order a new 1999 subscription to Juiced.GS, and the get the final issue of 1998 FREE!! This free issue ships with a disk containing the free version of GSoft BASIC! To subscribe, send a check or money order in U.S. funds to: Max Jones Juiced.GS 2217 Lakeview Drive Sullivan, IN 47882 Make checks or money orders payable to Max Jones. Sorry, no credit cards or purchase orders can be accepted. Complete sets of 1996, 1997 and 1998 issues are available for $14 each ($20 overseas). If you would like to purchase only a specific single copy (or copies) of back issues, they are available for $4 each ($6 overseas). An index and brief description of articles published in '96/'97'98 are available on the Juiced.GS web site. See URL below. Apple II Forever! Max Jones Juiced.GS Delphi: JuicedGS -- Internet: juicedgs@delphi.com World Wide Web: http://www.wbwip.com/juiced.gs (JUICEDGS, 21736, GO COM A2) BEST OF THE BEST """""""""""""""" 21206 9-MAR 07:22 General Chatter RE: Humor? (Re: Msg 8492) From: MBROUI11ETTE To: ALL Windows 98, Texas Edition It has come to Microsoft's attention that a few copies of the Texas edition of Windows 98 may have accidentally been shipped outside of Texas. If you have one of the Texas editions you may need some help understanding the commands. The Texas edition may be recognized by looking at the opening screen. It reads WINDERS 98 with a background picture of the Alamo super-imposed on the Texas flag. It is shipped with a Leann Rimes screen saver. Also note the Recycle Bin is labeled Outhouse. My Computer is called This Infernal Contraption. Dialup Networking is called Good Ol' Boys. Control Panel is known as the Dern Dashboard. Hard Drive is referred to as Wheel Drive. Floppies are them little ole plastic disc thangs. Other features: Instead of a error message you get a winder covered with a garbage bag and duct tape. OK = ats awright. Reset = aw shoot. Yes = shore. No = naw. Find = hunt fer it. Go to = over yonder. Back = back yonder. Help = hep me out here. Stop = ternit off. Start = crank it up. Settings = settins. Programs = stuff 'at does stuff. Documents = stuff I done done. Also note that Winders 98 does not recognize capital letters or punctuation marks. We regret any inconvenience it may have caused if you received a copy of the Texas Edition. You may return it to Microsoft for a replacement version. [EOA] [A2P]------------------------------ A2Pro_DUCTIVITY | ----------------------------------- Checking out A2PRO on Delphi """""""""""""""""""""""""""" by Ryan M. Suenaga, B.A., M.S.W., L.S.W. [thelamp@sheppyware.net] SHEPPY WRITES NEW APPLE II TECHNICAL NOTES--FILETYPES TO FOLLOW? I've """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" begun writing some new technical notes for the Apple II. The first two are available at http://www.sheppyware.net/ToolboxGS/ (follow the links to get to each one). They are: #200: New Request Codes - documents new IPC codes created since Apple last updated their documentation. Currently only one new code is documented; others will be added as information becomes available. #201: Identifying Emulators - covers identifying whether or not your application is running on an emulator, and, if so, which one. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2504, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Cool. Mind if I mirror those on my site, or would you prefer if I """"" just include a link? BTW, another much needed update would be a new list of file types to replace the one in the current File Type Notes. Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 2505, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< Go ahead and copy those to your site if you want, Mike, no problem. """"" I'm working on getting the latest file type information so I can do a filetype note update; that will take a while to do some research. If there are any issues that anyone knows need clarifying (either documentation errata, new topics, recent discoveries, bugs, etc), let me know and I can add more technical notes on these issues. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2507, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Sheppy... Do you want to just stick to Apple's codes here, or do """"" you want to add codes that other applications may send that could be useful to other applications? I am thinking of a bunch of useful ones that Spectrum puts out, and also the one Twilight II responds to. There will be others... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Tue 2 Mar 1999 - 141 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 2508, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> When we asked for filetypes for Spectrum, we had to get them from """"" the official 'keeper of the types'. That person did seem to move around a lot, but they should be within the Delphi home somewhere... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Tue 2 Mar 1999 - 141 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 2509, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< 1. IPC codes """"" The first type documented is actually one we created for Marinetti apps to use: $3680 - askAnyoneOpenURL. This IPC code can be sent out to find someone to process a string containing an URL. gsAIM will use it eventually, for instance, when people double click links in received messages, so that FTP NDAs or apps can work, SIS could follow links if gsAIM is in use while running SIS, Spectrum could follow telnet:// links, and so forth. The intent is to document any and all public IPC codes. However, this particular note is intended for codes for general usage (ie, stuff that would be both sent and received by any number of applications). If you'd like to publicly document the Spectrum codes, send me the information, and I'd be happy to write up a technical note covering them for you. 2. File type database I'm talking with Tim Tobin, the official holder of the database. A small group has been set up to oversee allocation of things like filetypes, resource types, and so forth. We're trying to get the databases for these things out of the hands of one person and into a group environment which can be more responsive (especially since Tim's so busy :). Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2510, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> There are quite a few of them, so I will need to go through and """"" extract only those that would be of direct interest to other applications. For instance I used two of them to control the Desk Alarm NDA while Spectrum is running. > 2. File type database > A small group has been set up to oversee allocation of things like > filetypes The Spectrum ones should be on file with them already, as we got official types allocated some time ago. If not, then when the list has been sorted out, I can give you the details. Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Wed 3 Mar 1999 - 140 days till KFest '99 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum 2.2 & Crock O' Gold 3.0 Bernie ][ the Rescue 2.0 woofing on a PowerMac 8200/120 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ewannop/ (EWANNOP, 2513, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< I haven't seen the database yet, so I don't know, but I'm sure it's """"" fine. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2514, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Sheppy, """"" You may like to rip out the Express tech note which is included in the Express Utility Pack, and I don't think there'd be a problem including the GraphicWriter III technical reference either, although I'd have to double check if you were interested in it. Regards, Richard (RICHARD_B, 2519, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> I think he means the Express Utility disk that is available for """"" download from various places. I have it here if it isn't available elsewhere. The only catch, which shouldn't be a problem for you, is that you have to unshrink it onto an HFS partition. Otherwise you have to rename most, if not all, the files as you unpack them. Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 2524, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Two or 3 years ago I had exchanged a couple of E-mails with Tim """"" Tobin (I think it was him) about putting information about New Print Shop file formats into the File Type Notes. I had obtained permission from Broderbund to have the New Print Shop formats released in this fashion. I sent him the format of several of those files, but I don't know what he ever did with it. Maybe we can put that information into the File Type Notes. Gerry (the Applesoft-aholic) gerrywright@delphi.com (GERRYWRIGHT, 2530, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< If you get me the information, I'll see to it. """"" Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2532, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Okay. I will gather the information I have. I think (I hope!) I """"" have it all in one place, so it should be fairly easy for me to put together a package for you. I have formats for several, but not all the data files for New Print Shop and Print Shop GS. I will shortly be figuring out some of the ones I don't have, so I will send them to you as I get them. If you wish, I can also send you information on the person I talked to at Broderbund about releasing the file formats. Since Broderbund considers the file formats to be proprietary, there are some restrictions we must reserve. I only got permission from them to release data formats for the Apple II version of New Print Shop and Print Shop GS, so we cannot release data files for any other version of Print Shop under this agreement. Also, the agreement only covers the data files, not any source code or disassembly of the programs themselves. They can be released as part of a collection of File Type Notes (say, in the Genie or Delphi library), but I do not believe that I or anybody else has permission to post them separately as messages on the Genie or Delphi forums, or on csa2. I also believe that neither I nor anyone else has permission to publish them separately in a magazine or newsletter. If you are becoming an official distributor of File Type Notes, then you will be able to put them on your web page as part of the File Type Notes. Others are not allowed to post them separately on their web pages. I was given permission to privately distribute the information to individuals via something like E-mail, but I believe that others who wish to have that permission must talk to Broderbund themselves. It may be wise to put a disclaimer explaining these restrictions where the formats distributed. That way, if someone redistributes the information in a way that annoys Broderbund, we can claim that we warned them of the restrictions and they misbehaved on their own. I don't expect Broderbund to really care about this, but you never know. Best to make sure things are done by the book on this end. (GERRYWRIGHT, 2541, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< Well, I'm creating a technote and file type note repository on """"" Syndicomm's behalf; they may eventually set up an official site for them. Remind me of the distribution restrictions when you provide the information, so I don't forget. :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2543, GO COM A2PRO) SHEPPY REORGANIZES SHEPPYWARE TECH DOC REPOSITORY I'm reorganizing my """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Apple II technical documentation site today; files will be moved around. Don't panic; most of the URLs will change, but the stuff is still there. At some point today, the root level of my technical repository will move to . I'm working on getting the uppercase letters out of these URLs; they're annoying. :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2511, GO COM A2PRO) <<<<< The switch is made. My technical references page is now at """"" . Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2512, GO COM A2PRO) TIDBITS ON THE GSOFT BASIC COURSE For all of you in the Learn to Program """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" in GSoft BASIC course, here's the assignment I'd like you to complete before next Monday, which is our first online meeting: Read Lesson 1 of "Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC." Work the problems at the end of the lesson. In the first class, we'll cover how things will work and answer any questions that come up when you're completing Lesson 1. BTW, if you ordered the course by Friday, it's already in the mail and should arrive before the weekend. If it doesn't arrive by this coming Friday, let me know, and I'll send you a copy of Lesson 1 by e-mail. See you on Monday the 8th! Mike Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, 2506, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Well, the first Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC chat took place on """"" Monday and I haven't seen anything posted since so I guess no one is having any problems that weren't solved during the chat. :-) I have uploaded the first transcript but have a few questions to ask you about how you would like to see future transcripts. In the first transcript, I did very little editing. Because I was late getting to the chat, I used a capture of the chat that Sheppy was kind enough to provide to me. The only editing I did was to remove some private messages that had been sent to Sheppy (don't worry Shep, there was nothing incriminating :-) as well as the responses from a few commands that Sheppy, as the moderator of the chat, saw. Also, I moved a few lines around so that people's "thoughts" didn't get broken up by other people's messages. This happened quite a bit to Mike Westerfield as he was trying to get lots of information across. I simply took these separate lines and made sure that they were contiguous in the transcript so that it is easier to follow what someone is saying. Now to the future. In the current transcript, each line can be up to 80 characters long and ends in a carriage return so if someone typed something that took two or three lines to display, it takes two or three lines in the transcript as well. Unfortunately, using a IIgs text viewer using certain fonts, some of those single lines get word wrapped and this ends up making the file look awful. Kind of like this: .Mike> Hi guys. Sorry I'm so late, but my access seems slow. I actually started 10 minutes ago. :) This can be fixed if I make what each person says into a paragraph. Would this be something that people would fine useful? Also along these lines, sometimes people type more than 255 characters which ends up causing the last part of what they typed to appear as if it was a second this that the person typed. Kind of like this: .Jeff> All through my schooling I was constantly correcting my computer programming teachers. From high school through college. I learned to program by reading a text on Waterloo Structured BASIC before there was even a high sc .Jeff> hool course I could take. :) This can be fixed by just deleting the second instance of the name and appending the extra text to the previous text. This would work well in conjunction with the paragraph fix above and would have the added benefit of grouping the large sections of Mike's messages (at one point there is ten messages in a row from him) into nice easy to read paragraphs with Mike's name at the beginning once and not appearing multiple times. :-) Let me know what you think and also let me know of anything else that could be done to improve the transcripts. By the way, I'll do my best to make sure these transcripts are available by Thursday of each week from now on. Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ sent via | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | COG v3.0 | now in session | now in session | (JBLAKENEY, 2545, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Just a reminder and to make sure that everyone has the correct """"" information about the GSoft BASIC course as some of you may have come across some conflicting information. I would have had this posted yesterday but something was wrong with my net account. COURSE: Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC REQUIREMENTS: 1) A Delphi account of any type, including the free web based accounts. 2) A copy of GSoft BASIC, either the free version or the commercial version. 3) A copy of the Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC text. The text and programming language are available from the Byte Works. Information, the free version of GSoft BASIC and ordering info for the commercial version of GSoft BASIC is available from the Byte Works web page at: http://www.hypermall.com/byteworks WHERE: The conference (chat) area of the Apple II Programmer's Forum on Delphi. For information about how to access the conference area of A2Pro, read message 2495 in the A2Pro forum. For those with web access, you can read this message by using the following URL: http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=a2pro&page=1&mid=2495 WHEN: The conferences will take place starting at 9 pm Eastern. That is 8 pm Central, 7 pm Mountain and 6 pm Pacific. The conferences will last approximately two hours. Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 2517, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Of course, I would have to go and forget to put the date but at """"" least it was in my signature. :-) For those who didn't read my signature, the course starts on Monday, March 8th and will continue weekly after that. Check out the Apple II University web page if you want all the details: http://www.delphi.com/a2pro/ then click the A2 University link. Oh, and if you are going to be taking the course, why not post a reply to message 2491 to let everyone know. See you Monday. Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | | now in session | starts March 8th | (JBLAKENEY, 2523, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> It is in the A2 University database and on the A2 University """"" download page. To use the A2Pro database you need a paid account and you need to connect using telnet, sprintnet or direct dial. Once you are connected you can type "GO COM A2PROp dat a2" without the quotes to get to the A2 University database in the A2Pro forum. Then type "read" and you should get the first transcript listed. At the next prompt you can type "down" to download it by following the next few prompts or you can press return to get the description of the next file and have the same options again. Just experiment. If you go past a file you wanted just type "exit" and then (if memory serves me) type "dat a2" to get back to the first file in the list. There are other commands too and you can get help by typing "help". If you don't want to bother with all that, just point your web browser to: http://www.delphi.com/a2pro On the left side of this page is the navigation bar. Click the A2 University link and on the A2 University page, find the A2 University Download Page link and click it. (I still need to put this link in a better place to make it easier to find.) Once on the Download Page, scroll down to the Learn to Program in GSoft BASIC Transcripts section and click on the transcript(s) you are interested in. The transcripts are being made available as a standard Apple II text file (lines ending in carriage return) that has been compressed with ShrinkIt and put in a Binary II wrapper (*.BXY) and as a standard PC text file (*.TXT) (lines ending in carriage return/line feed) so web browsers can view it directly while online or you can save it to disk and strip the line feeds later if needed. I hope this helps. Look for the second transcript to be made available on Thursday. Jeff Blakeney | Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro | --------------+----------------------------------------------------+ sent via | HyperCard IIgs Course | GSoft BASIC Course | COG v3.0 | now in session | now in session | (JBLAKENEY, 2548, GO COM A2PRO) HOW TO LOAD A FILE INTO A DEREFERENCED HANDLE Just skip the dialog box """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" step and go straight to the opening, reading, and closing of the file. You don't have to use Standard File to get a filename, just hard-code it in your program. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2556, GO COM A2PRO) IF ANYONE CAN MOUNT DISK IMAGES UNDER GS/OS. . . Actually, Harold, I """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" think I've figured a way to do disk images on the Apple IIgs. ie. Be able to mount them under GS/OS. I know we discussed this many years ago, but I think I may have found a solution. When my IIgs gets back online, I might give it a go. Would anybody be interested in such a utility? Regards, Richard (RICHARD_B, 2518, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> Heck yeah. :) """"" Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@sheppyware.net http://www.sheppyware.net (SHEPPY, 2521, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> You bet. """"" - Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. -- rsuenaga@apple2.org Editor and Publisher, _The Lamp!_, published monthly on Delphi Posted by PTMM v2.5 - The integrated information solution (RSUENAGA, 2522, GO COM A2PRO) >>>>> yes please! """"" Kevin Noonan gswombat@delphi.com (GSWOMBAT, 2528, GO COM A2PRO) Yes, this would be fantastic! Paul. Paul Schultz schultp@delphi.com sent your way via Spectrum 2.2 and Crock O' Gold 2.6 (SCHULTP, 2531, GO COM A2PRO) [EOA] [IBE]------------------------------ IT'S BEEN EDUCATIONAL | ----------------------------------- Assisted Devices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Tee Cashmore (TeeC in Delphi A2) [teec@execulink.com] ASSISTED DEVICES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What are "Assisted Devices"? Everyone here with a computer uses one, probably a mouse or track ball. If you're lucky and rich enough, maybe you have a newer laptop, in which case you probably use the built in figure pad. Accountants like separate numeric keypads. This may not seem like a topic for everyone, but wait until you get older and your fine motor skills start to wane, or perhaps, God forbid, you get into an accident and find that you can no longer control your right hand; same in reverse for lefties. My clients tend to have somewhat severe deficiencies, such as Cerebral Palsy, head injuries of various types and degrees, Muscular Dystrophy, Post Polio Syndrome and Parkinson's, to name the more common ones. Cerebral Palsy users mostly have to have a special keyboard, such as a "Bliss" board. The keyboard is about 3-4 times as large, the keys are quite large and can be programmed to input words and commands, rather than letters. Severe cases may have to have headbands that control input onto a special screen by means of a tough probe, if they are lucky enough to still have control of their head movements. In head injury cases we tend to try to use regular keyboards, but the software is specially designed to reteach the brain to learn commands, so the software becomes the assisted device. Some have to use the devices I have already mentioned. Muscular Dystrophy patients generally use similar devices to the Cerebral Palsy ones, but the degree of the disease affects everyone differently, so it all depends on what skills they have left, or skills that can be relearned. Some Post Polio cases have recently found an increasing problem. Many people who had Polio years ago, often as children, are suddenly finding that the disease has returned after years of having no symptoms. One of my clients in his late seventies has great difficulty controlling his finger movements. Every time I see him there are many empty folders on the desktop, simply because a finger hit the wrong key by mistake. He has found that his PowerBook's pad is a godsend, as he can control his finger if he puts pressure on it, but he can't control the pressure on a mouse and therefore the pad became an assisted device! Many people with Parkinson's may find that the pad is their salvation too. Personally, I use a "Little Mouse" and have found it a useful device for many of my clients, especially those with limited arm movement, or Arthritis, as the pad is much smaller and the pointer is controlled by a laser beam. The mouse rides very smoothly on a metallic pad and I can reach from one side of the screen to the other in about 7-10 cm (3-4 inches). I don't have a disability that I know of, but I really like my "Little" mouse. Talking computers and computers that answer to spoken commands are also examples of assisted devices and have been around since the early 80's. You may be interested in the history of all of these devices, including the numeric keypad. Back in the days of Apple II's, the advantage was that the 7 slots allowed for numerous cards to control devices and many different aids were produced, mostly by 3rd party manufacturers, to work on an Apple //e, and later a IIgs's. There are thousands, if not millions of Apple II's still in use in American schools and hospitals, nobody seems to know how many in Canada, but it is certainly in the thousands. An Assisted Device Card to control special keyboards still retails for $750, the Bliss board for another $750. Applied Engineering of Texas made an excellent speech card, which is still in use in many therapy areas and I installed one 3 years ago in a IIgs at a hospital speech therapy clinic in Sarnia. This is just a quick overview of computer assisted devices, but if you use an Apple II, 10-1 you are using one. :: DISCUSSED ON DELPHI :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : Double your drive space! Delete Windows! : : : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: LUMITECH :::::: [EOA] [INN]------------------------------ EXTRA INNINGS | ----------------------------------- About The Lamp! The Lamp! is published on the fifteenth of every month in """"""""""""""" the Database of the II Scribe Forum on the Delphi online service (GO CUS 11). This publication produced entirely with real or emulated Apple II computers using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes. Apple II Forever! * The Lamp! is (c) copyright 1999 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. All rights reserved. * To reach The Lamp! on Internet email send mail to thelamp@sheppyware.net * Back issues of The Lamp! are available in the II Scribe Forum on Delphi as well as The Lamp! Home Page, http://lamp.sheppyware.net. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Delphi Online Services, Syndicomm, Inc., or Ryan M. Suenaga. Forum messages are reprinted verbatim and are included in this publication with permission from the individual authors. Delphi Online Services, Syndicomm, Inc. and Ryan M. Suenaga do not guarantee the accuracy or suitability of any information included herein. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. Material published in this edition may not be reprinted without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Registered computer user groups, not for profit publications , and other interested parties may write the publisher to apply for permission to reprint any or all material. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< [EOF]