::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||| ZMAGAZINE #177 October 1, 1989 ||||||| |||||||---------------------------------------------------------||||||| ||||||| Volume 3, Number 40 Ron Kovacs, Editor ||||||| |||||||---------------------------------------------------------||||||| |||||||(c) 1989, Rovac Ind., PO Box 59, Middlesex, NJ 08846-0059||||||| |||||||=========================================================||||||| ||||||| News Headlines.... ||||||| ||||||| * Atari Announces New President ||||||| ||||||| * Nintendo Doubles Gameboy Output ||||||| ||||||| * Ledbetter Shipping Cartridge ||||||| ||||||| * New Uploads Available On The Services ||||||| |||||||=========================================================||||||| |||||||CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: CONTENTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #177 <*> The Editors Desk.....Ron Kovacs <*> ZNet Newswire............... <*> 800 Sound Mod........Bob Wolley <*> Disk Directory Salvage...... <*> September Uploads....CompuServe <*> September Uploads......GEnie <*> Fun Memo..............A. Dutura <*> ZMag Archives............... THE EDITORS DESK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- by Ron Kovacs I hope we have not upset our readers too much with our change over to this 80 column format. The atascii format was indeed nice to look at on BBS systems, but the straight ascii readers cannot read the issue without converting it first. I am making an attempt to gather some programers so that a few suggestions we have received can be discussed and written. If you have some spare time and are interested in writing some utilities, please leave me email and we can chat. This is our 177th issue, and our 195th release. The other issues were special editions on computer shows, single topics and special ZMag Indexes. With all this information, we are now going to provide a weekly reprint from one of the many issues. This week, we go back to February 23, 1987, Issue #40 with a reprint on hooking up a hard disk to your 8-bit. If you have a specific article or topic you would like us to cover, let me know and we will make it available. And, Thanks for reading! ZNET NEWSWIRE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ Atari Corporation Press Release: 9/29/89 I am pleased to announce that H. Michael (Mike) Morand joined Atari on September 25, 1989 as the President of Atari Computer (U.S.). Mike will be responsible for all operational aspects of Atari Computer sales, marketing, distribution and administration within the United States. Mike joins us from AST Research, Inc., where he was Vice President of Systems Marketing and was responsible for launching their desktop computer products into the market. In addition, Mike was in charge of AST's advertising, public relations, and reseller development. Mike's background also includes experience as a General Manager, and he has held several senior level sales and marketing positions. Previous companies he has been with include Xerox Corporation, Scientific Data Systems, Data Card Corporation, MSI Data Corporation, and Litton Systems, representing over 25 years experience in the computer industry. Please join me in welcoming Mike to Atari. Best Wishes, Sam Tramiel * Roy Goldman left a message on GEnie a little over a week ago updating the status of Daisy-Dot 3. Here are a few things being discussed: *** Commands for controlling left & right margins, hanging indents, changing densities, centering, flush right, justification, four different character widths, hard spaces, hard hyphens, and changing fonts are all finished. Up next are multiple height options and a new tabbing system that should eliminate almost every alignment problem. Daisy-Dot 3 might be shipping in January 1990. Stay tuned for details. * A new version of TextPro is being worked on and according to Ron Riche a beta version was supposed to be available this past weekend. Here is some excerpts from his message on GEnie. *** I will send the last beta version over the service by Friday of this week. If I encounter no problems this version will run from high memory and use all RAM underneath as buffer space. The lower the MEMLO the bigger the buffer. The new version also has a couple of extra goodies, a control lock, fancy screen print, and a number of bug fixes from the original that were never taken care of. I am debating whether to leave the 'Binary Load-' option alone in S-DOS versions (it will probably never work well with the X-Cart) or using the DOS Connmand ture instead, which allows you to type a command to DOS to be Xecuted on exit. Tell me which would be more useful... * Atari's new User Group Coordinator requests that user group officers send in all the information about the group including the groups name, address (preverably a Post Office Box), a contact name, and phone number. Next month a revised user group listing will become available. For more information on user group registration, contact Bob Brodie at Atari Corp (408) 745-2052 * Diamond's Alan Reeve recently announced that Diamond Write has started shipping as version 1.0. This version includes different fonts, mixing styles, search and replace, 80 column, graphics printout, ruler and more. A spell checker and XEP80 support has not beem included, but a spell checker will added shortly and become available free as an upgrade. * DataQue, the makers of the Turbo816 has announced the first program for the product. Turbo_Calc is a spreadsheet program with the following features: Runs on XL/XE with 32k or 64k of RAM, 400/800 with revision B Atari OS and at least 32k RAM, Turbo-816 Systems using Standard RAM or Expanded RAM, uses up to 8Mb of Expanded RAM, 64 Rows by 64 Columns Cell Grid, Shell to DOS (using MEM.SAV or equivalent if needed by DOS), compatible with DOS 2.x, MYDOS, DOSXL, SpartaDOS, or SPX (Standard memory model or less than 48k of expanded with SPX), automatic detection of memory type available, cell (block) move, copy, delete, kill, and edit, runs under Turbo-View Windowing Environment (FAST!!!) and all commands also have HOT key equivalents. Many help screens available via hot key or Turbo-View. Cartridge based, so it works with HD, or Floppy Systems. Suggested retail price will range between $30 and $40.00. Look for release of this product in mid November. * Nintendo announced last week it will raise its monthly output of Gameboy video game machines from 300,000 units per month to 400,000 per month by the end of the year. Nintendo has sold 710,000 Gameboys since April. In the US 450,000 Gameboys have been sold since it began shipping here at the end of July. Nintendo sells ehe hand-held video game for $109.95 in the US. * Keith Ledbetter has shipped the first batch of Express! terminal cartridges. The stackable cart for the 8-bit Atari gives unparalleled power in an instant-load package. A disk drive is not even required for simple terminal use with any standard Hayes compatible modem. It supports numerous batch transfer protocols at speeds up to 19,200 baud and will work on Atari 1030, XM301, and SX212 direct connect modems. Featuring windows and drop down menus (although NOT using a mouse), it's quite easy to use. $69.95 from Orion Microsystems, 2211 Planters Row Drive, Midlothian, Virginia 23113. ATARI 800 SOUND MODIFICATION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- by Bob Woolley First of all I will not be responsible for any damages. This works and it worked great on my 800. I did it in one day. First, you need to go to Radio Shack and get a switch which has four connection prongs. You may want a little switch box and some extra wire. Second, you need to take the case of you computer apart. You will find down in the right hand corner of the computer a speaker and a little plug where that speaker connects. Remove the speaker for the computer (but mark the plug so you know which way to plug it back in); then cut both wires and strip them. Now you take the switch and solder the wires on to it or the extension wires you may have chosen to use. Then plug the speaker back in and put your CPU back together. After this you may toggle your computer sound on an off. This may also be done with a volume switch instead of a toggle type switch. If you have any questions you may contact me at the Reef BBS (S*P*A*C*E South) via E-mail or base #6 or #7. The Reef BBS (206) 848- 3371 South Hill, Washington. DISK DIRECTORY SALVAGE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- by Bob Prince Reprinted from the NACEC Newsletter While cleaning up some files the other day, I had a dreaded experience. A directory call from DOS produced the feared message -ERROR 144-. What was on that disk? I didn't know! All I knew was that it was a full double density disk of documentation files. So I booted up my trusty disk utility DISKWIZ 2 (vintage 1982 form Jerry Allen). Many other sector editors are available to let you look at the contents of a disk and change anything you like. What I found confirmed my worst fears - two bad sectors, sector 361 and 362. Unless you know something about Atari file structure, the significance of this is not obvious. After all, what's the big deal about losing two sectors of text? Well what that means in this case is that the first two sectors of the DIRECTORY were lost. Short of programming to read the disk contents into a series of files and editing them into meaningful files, the whole disk was useless. (Not quite, since I did manage to copy five files, but you get my point). Back to DISKWIZ 2. I mapped the disk and found 26 files on it - all consecutive. Then I went to the first sector of each file and read it to see the name of it. Between what I was able to salvage from my disk, what I had in backups and what I found posted on local BBs's I could replace about half of them. That still left 99K bytes of information lost. I decided to try to salvage it. I checked the file links and was relieved to learn they were intact. I reasoned that all I had to do was reconstruct an acceptable directory so DOS could find the start of each file and then copy file by file to another disk. I guess it's time to have a brief discussion on how DOS manages files. The directory is contained on sectors 361 - 368. That's 8 sectors. Each directory sector has 128 bytes and each file takes 16 bytes to record all necessary information: INFORMATION BYTE(S) =============================== FILE STATUS 1 FILE LENGTH (sectors) 2,3 FILE START SECTOR 4,5 FILENAME 6-13 EXTENSION 14-16 That allows 8 files per directory sector times 8 directory sectors for a maximum of 64 files per disk. For your information, all data is shown in hexidecimal (ugh!) and byte pairs are always in low byte - high byte order (for example decimal 525 equals hex 020D, but would be entered 0D 02). File status could be never used (00), normal (42), locked (62), deleted (80), or open (43 or 63). Next I decided to enter the information from my map and manual file scan in the order and format described above. One reason I chose DISKWIZ 2 for this job is that it has some handy features such as a dec-hex conversion, a directory screen print and a graphic screen dump compatible with my printer (Gemini 10X). The formatted directory proved very useful in checking my editing, and before long I had sucessfullly completed my disk surgery...and learned quite a bit about file structure in the process. SEPTEMBER UPLOADS - COMPUSERVE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ctsy CompuServe Atari8 SIG The following is a list of uploads to the CompuServe Atari 8-Bit Forum for the month of September. LBPLUS.ARC/binary 26368 This is LeBreak Plus. For use in the creation of ATASCII ART/TEXT Files/BBS welcome Msgs, or any Msgs you would like to create. Replaces LeBreak Ten or the Magic Cursor. Please read the DOCS before using the program. Only systems with atleast 48k can use this. This is version 2 and it DEFINITELY works! Mike/74730,405 = Z176.ARC/binary 16384 New Release Day, New Format, New Editor. ZMagazine Issue #176 <*> Editors Desk, <*> Znet Newswire, <*> 2 Type In Programs, <*> WAACE Update, <*> AUGS Announced, <*> Hard Drive Notes. = COUNTS.BAS/binary 6400 This program will give the evaluation for a US Postal Service rural delivery route. You need the totals from PS Form 4241(x). Just input the totals and receive a printout of the route evaluation. It is written in basic and requires a printer. = ZNEWS.TXT 1557 Press release from Rovac on ZMagazine. = CHKFRG.ARC/binary 11520 This file check the percentage of fragmentation of files on a SpartaDos disk (Floppy, Hard, Ram). It is mainly used to see if your Hard Drive is being used in a optimal manner. = LIFE.ARC/binary 24832 A version of the simulation of LIFE with a GEM like interface. Allows for saving, loading, and printing of patterns plus other features. = ETIME.ARC/binary 7296 Action source and compiled program to compute elapsed time between two times you enter. This program shows the use of the SDOS.ACT routines to get parameters from SpartaDOS or to ask for values if parameters aren't passed. Also shows how to restrict typed input to a specific group of characters (numerals in this case) and trap editing characters using a routine from GETSTR.ACT. Bill Aycock = PASCAL.ARC/binary 30720 Draper Pascal 2.1 software file. Everything you need! This is the very latest version of Draper Pascal for all 8 bit Atari systems. Another file contains a 39 page manual. Draper Pascal is now Shareware! = PASDOC.ARC/binary 31744 Draper Pascal 2.1 is now Shareware. This is a 39 page documentation file covering features, a complete tutorial, reserved words, and much more! Major 8 bit Atari software language. = Z175.ARC/binary 15744 ZMagazine #175 for 19 September 1989. This ARCed news/reviews issue contains: Atari user group station, CIS new uploads, FACE Atari talk, GEnie new uploads, WAACE 'Fest is Alive and Well. = CHRCHG.ARC/binary 11136 A Dungeon bug causes possession items to get garbled or disappear. Then an old character must be updated. This Dungeon utility changes what's already on that disk. Change any stat, such as strength, hit points or experience points. Change quantity of guild or carried items, the number of times you can use eyes and horns, or location. Even go into arena and palace. It also tells your direction. Thanks, Don Lebow for Zap. Use Superunarc after download. = SDOS.ACT 3617 This file contains source code for Action! routines that allow you to access SpartaDOS's command line. These routines will let you pull parameters from the command line one by one, or you can get the entire line at once if you wish. Demo routine is included - I recommend that you compile and run the demo until you know how the routines will behave. Bill Aycock = Z174R.ARC/binary 13696 ZMagazine #174 re-release for 12 September 1989. This ARCed news/ reviews issue contains: Editor's monitor, Computer Talk, Jersey Atari Computer Group, The Mouse Loses its Tail, and Crazy Eights. = WOFDAT.BAS/binary 18176 Now the best Wheel of Fortune is even better. If 900 puzzles weren't enough or if you just wanted to be able to write your own puzzles, here's a puzzle file maker for WOF.DCM. This is an improved version of the puzzle maker and allows the space and -&- characters to be used in the category. Read the DOC file WOFDAT.DOC. = WOFDAT.DOC 7164 Documentation for WOFDAT.BAS -- puzzle maker for Wheel Of Fortune file WOF.DCM = ZREAD.BAS/binary 3456 Read ZMAGS (8-Bit) by entering only the three numbers; as long as the Z is on the disk as ZMAGxxx.TXT. Enjoy. *Andrew* = WOF.DCM/binary 69632 This is the Best Ever WHEEL OF FORTUNE game. It has 900 puzzles and plays just like the original TV version. It requires 48K & ATARI BASIC. Originally uploaded as WOFSCR.XMO, it was included in the BEST OF ATARI8 catalog. Extract with DISCOM to make the program disk. Instructions in WOFDCM.DOC. Y ou can make your own puzzles using WOFDAT.BAS. An additional disk of 900 MORE puzzles is available in WOFPUZ.DCM! -Warren Silberstein- = WOFDCM.DOC 19300 Documentation for WOF.DCM -- Wheel of Fortune simulation in Atari Basic. = WOFPUZ.DCM/binary 40448 A Disc full of 900 more puzzles for the Best WHEEL OF FORTUNE. For use with WOF.DCM (previously WOFSCR.XMO). Use DISCOM to turn this file into a disc. = AND1.TXT 11689 This is Atari NewsDesk Volume 1, Number 1. Atari NewsDesk is a new monthly newsletter supplement published by the Atari Exchange Of Louisville, Ky. This month... Kentuckiana AtariFest Cancelled, Washington AtariFest Announced, And more! = BBSREP.TXT 3819 This is the Atari Scene! BBS Report 09/15/89 edition. = CLRDSK.ARC/binary 4224 This program will clear (write zeros) to any SpartaDos Disk device, i.e. MIO RamDisks, Hard Drives, Disk Drives, that will return their configuration. It is used from the command line. Includes Mac65 source code. = MIOLCK.ARC/binary 2048 This file will toggle the Lock status on your MIO Ramdisks and Hard Disks from the SpartaDos 3.2 or SDX command line. Includes Mac65 source code. = WHATIS.ARC/binary 8448 WHATIS 2.4 now recognizes 37 types of files - AlfCrunch, ARC, DiskCom, ML, pictures, and many other file types for various computers. Load from any DOS (DOS-XE too!) and enter the name of the file(s) or directory to check. Sparta users may pass the filespec on the command line. Brief docs with a list of file types WHATIS will recognize is included in the ARC. (v2.4 adds a number of picture types to the list.) Bill Aycock = HWSALE.TXT 2353 Read this ASCII file for a listing of current Hardware items we have on SALE! -Mark- -IC- = SEPTEMBER UPLOADS - GENIE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ctsy GEnie Atari8 Roundtable Here is a capture, (re-edited), of available files for downloading on GEnie which have been uploaded during the month of September. Number: 4623 Name: CONTENTS78.TXT Address: C.WALNUM Bytes: 3780 Library: 23 Description: This is the table of contents from the November 1989 issue of ANALOG Computing/ST-Log. = Number: 4622 Name: CALENDAR TOOL.ARC Address: TOM.ROBINSON Bytes: 16380 Library: 9 Description: This calendar is customizable, versatile, and has fast search abilities among its features. Multiple printing options, day- specific reminders or annual messages-- pretty handy! Good docs with it, and it's NOT written in BASIC. It's author released it into the public domain some time back (it was once commercially available). I haven't tested it in-depth with many DOSes, but it has no problems with Atari DOS 2.5 and seems to be fine with SpartaDOS. = Number: 4621 Name: ZMAG176.TXT Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 32760 Library: 13 Description: NEW RELEASE DAY, NEW EDITOR, NEW FORMAT. <*> Editors Desk, <*> ZNet Newswire, <*> 2 Type-In Programs, <*> WAACE Update, <*> Hard Drive Notes. This is the same as ZMAG176.ARC, except you can ist this online, or download it without having to UNARC it. Text is ASCII. = Number: 4620 Name: EDITBAS.LST Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 3780 Library: 13 Description: This BASIC source was extracted from Issue #176 of ZMagazine. Article can be isted online, or downloaded then ENTERED into your program editor. File is ASCII. See ZMAG176.ARC/ZMAG176.TXT in this library for details. = Number: 4619 Name: TEXT_FILE.LST Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 5040 Library: 13 Description: This TURBO BASIC source was extracted from Issue #176 of ZMagazine. Article can be isted online, or downloaded then ENTERED into your program editor. File is ASCII. See ZMAG176.ARC/ZMAG176.TXT in this library for details. = Number: 4618 Name: KENFIG.ARC Address: BOB.PUFF Bytes: 5040 Library: 2 Description: This is a utility program from Frank Walters that allows you to manipulate your MIO configuration with MYDOS, TOPDOS, and SpartaDOS. It also allows you to use MYDOS with the MIO ramdisk(s). = Number: 4614 Name: ZMAG176.ARC Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 17640 Library: 13 Description: See above file for contents. = Number: 4613 Name: KEYMASTER.DOC Address: E.HABBERSTAD Bytes: 6300 Library: 2 Description: Documentation for Keymaster, the XL/XE keyboard enhancement program for basic and MAC65 users. = Number: 4612 Name: KEYMASTER.COM Address: E.HABBERSTAD Bytes: 7560 Library: 2 Description: XL/XE keyboard and screen editor enhancement for everyday use by users of Basic and MAC65. Features 32 byte key buffer, nine special function keys, 26 unit macro table, choice of qwerty or dvorak keyboards, and special three line bottom of screen display showing Dvorak, graphics or international character keyboard layouts. = Number: 4611 Name: CALENDAR1990.TXT Address: K.HELM Bytes: 11340 No description available. = Number: 4610 Name: COUNTSHT.BAS Address: H.KING Bytes: 7560 Library: 9 Description: Written in basic and requires a printer. = Number: 4609 Name: Z175.ARC Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 16380 Library: 13 Description: ZMagazine #175 for 19 September '89. This ARCed news/ reviews issue contains: Atari User Group Station, CIS new uploads, FACE Atari Talk, GEnie new uploads, WAACE 'Fest is Alive and Well. = Number: 4608 Name: SEPT89.TXT Address: E.LAMBETH1 Bytes: 5040 Library: 12 Description: This is the fall 1989 issue of Atari Talk. Atari Talk is the official newsletter of the Federation of Atari Computer Enthusiasts, an international Atari users group. = Number: 4607 Name: AUGSPR.TXT Address: MARTY.A Bytes: 7560 Library: 12 Description: This ASCII text file is a press release about a *new* service for ALL Atari User Groups called AUGS (The Atari User Group Station). May be downloaded or read online with the ist command. = Number: 4605 Name: PASDOC.ARC Address: N.DRAPER Bytes: 34020 Library: 2 Description: This is a 39 page documentation file for the latest version of Draper Pascal. It is now Shareware! This is a major language for the Atari 8 bit systems. Another uploaded file contains the complete Draper Pascal 2.1 software. This file contains a description of the Draper Pascal features, a complete tutorial, Compiler, Editor, System information, and much more! = Number: 4604 Name: PASCAL.ARC Address: N.DRAPER Bytes: 32760 Library: 2 Description: This is the latest version of Draper Pascal for Atari 8 bit systems. It is now Shareware! This is a major language for the Atari 8 bit systems. Another uploaded file contains a 39 page manual describing the many features of Draper Pascal, a complete tutorial, Pascal definitions, and more. = Number: 4603 Name: SEABAT.ARC Address: T.CRAWFORD1 Bytes: 7560 Library: 10 Description: This is a game programmed in Atari BASIC that is played like Milton-Bradley's game called Battle Ship. It's nothing fancy, but I think it's fun and can be helpful in learning to program in BASIC. Respect and credit go to Milton-Bradley for their marketing of the REAL Battle Ship. Copyrighted by Tim Crawford, but released to PD. Feel free to modify to your own liking, but remember 'from whence it comest'! = Number: 4602 Name: LQUEST.BAS Address: T.CRAWFORD1 Bytes: 8820 Library: 10 Description: Game for up to 4 players - copyrighted, but PD by Tim Crawford. Works similar in object and play to 'Wheel of Fortune'. Programmed in regular interpretive BASIC; modify to suit your taste, but remember the author (please!). = Number: 4601 Name: SOFTSALE.TXT Address: C.MICHAUD Bytes: 1260 Library: 11 Description: Good 8-Bit Software for sale at low prices. Graphics Interface which no 8-bit owner with a dot matrix printer should be without. You must check out this file. List online or download. (Not Compressed) = Number: 4600 Name: Z174R.ARC Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 15120 Library: 13 Description: ZMagazine #174 re-release for 12 September 1989. This ARCed news/reviews issue contains: Editor's monitor, Jersey Atari Computer Group, The Mouse loses its tail, and Crazy Eights. This re- release supercedes the previous issue #174. = Number: 4598 Name: TICTACTOE3D.ARC Address: L.KIRKPATRI1 Bytes: 6300 Library: 10 Description: This is a multi-level three dimentional tic-tac-toe game. You can play human versus human, human versus the computer or computer versus computer. GTIA chip is required in a 48K 8-bit Atari. = Number: 4597 Name: MAXEDIT.ARC Address: MARTY.A Bytes: 12600 Library: 27 Description: This program, when UnARC'd, will let Oasis BBS v4.x and older edit nearly ALL the parameters saved in the pass word files. This is an OFFLINE editor and can not be used online. = Number: 4596 Name: CLRHLPR.ARC Address: MARTY.A Bytes: 5040 Library: 27 Description: This program, when UnARC'd, will help you set the screen colors for the various MBEs on the Oasis BBS. Can also be used to determine the values needed to get whatever screen color that you want for other programs/reasons. = Number: 4595 Name: PC_MYDOS.ARC Address: G.HINES Bytes: 26460 Library: 2 Description: Get this file to an MSDOS machine. Unarc and use the program to format a diskette on the PC. Use the program to copy from MSDOS to this new diskette and then read it on any Atari single sided drive in double density. Use MyDos, SpartaDos, etc.. I have had problems using SpartaDos X but the 3.2 version is fine. *SysOp's Note* This is an MSDOS program, NOT an Atari program!!! = Number: 4594 Name: ILBMRD14.ARC Address: JDPOTTER Bytes: 12600 Library: 4 Description: Version 1.4 of ILBMREAD program to view Amiga IFF/ILBM picture files. This version adds a few features like quiet I/O, selectable monochrome mode, toggle Antic off for faster loading, and unsticking XF551 drives. This program is ShareWare: please send feedback. Enjoy! = Number: 4592 Name: VIEW9.ARC Address: J.WARD8 Bytes: 1260 Library: 4 Description: This is a single file graphics 9 (PI9) viewer that I wrote to save hauling out a slideshow program to check out new pics. It may be run from the Sparta command line as VIEW9 Filename.ext, or it will prompt you to enter the name from any other dos. Short and sweet, it's only about 500 bytes! = Number: 4591 Name: Z173.ARC Address: ZMAGAZINE Bytes: 16380 Library: 13 Description: ZMagazine #173 for 5 September 1989. This ARCed news issue contains: User Group Notice--New Jersey, Surge protection, Analog October Contents, 130XE upgraded, Black Box information, Washington DC Atarifest update, and more. = Number: 4590 Name: CRAZY8.TXT Address: LAKE31 Bytes: 8820 Library: 12 Description: Odds and Ends and more info concerning the Crazy-Eights contest food for thought and a chance to win fifty dollars. Whadya say? = Number: 4589 Name: DOS2DOS3CONV.ARC Address: I.RODRIGUEZ Bytes: 2520 Library: 2 Description: This program can convert any file from a DOS 2 disk to DOS 3. It can copy true double density files (true double density drive required) and from enhanced density DOS 2.5 disks (the files that appear as in the directory) as well as the standard DOS 2.0s files. You may also want to download the docs for this file (#4587) and its twin brother: Convert DOS 3 to DOS 2 (file #4588). = Number: 4588 Name: DOS3DOS2CONV.ARC Address: I.RODRIGUEZ Bytes: 2520 Library: 2 Description: This program is for converting files from DOS 3 to DOS 2 disks. It is a new version of the program I uploaded more than a year ago. The difference with the previous version is that this one can make multiple passes and corrects a few bugs of the older version. You may also want to download the docs for this file (#4587) and the twin brother of this program: Convert DOS 2 to DOS 3. That program can convert files from true double density disks to DOS 3. It is file #4589 = Number: 4587 Name: DOSCONVDOC.ARC Address: I.RODRIGUEZ Bytes: 5040 Library: 2 Description: This file contains the docs for the two converting utilities. Since both versions, the 3 to 2 and the 2 to 3, are used in the same way there's only one doc file to download. = Number: 4586 Name: VCTEMPS.ARC Address: MARTY.A Bytes: 28980 Library: 9 Description: This ARC'd file contains a number of different templates for use with VisiCalc. Note that you MUST have VisiCalc to use these!! This is a re-upload of an older file in ARC format to reduce the size for faster transfers. = FUN MEMO ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Compliments of (GEnie) A.DUTRA _______________, 19___ TO: ______________________________ [] As per our agreement [] In spite of our agreement [] Congratulations on your New Baby/Retirement/New House/Old House/Pay Increase/Birthday/Wedding/Divorce [] Keep your comments to yourself [] Put a stamp on your next letter! [] Please don't try to explain [] Please return [] Please explain [] For your eyes only [] No use explaining [] Thanks for the loan [] Please sign and return [] We will accept your insults [] Please sign keep [] We'll no longer accept your insults [] You know what you can do with this [] Merry Christmas [] Please sign and throw away [] Happy New Year [] Everything is in order [] Happy Hanukkah [] Don't worry [] Happy Easter [] Worry [] Lazy Labor Day [] Greetings to your secretary [] Happy Mother's Day [] Greetings to your wife [] For your guidance [] Is your hunting dog available? [] You need guidance [] Is your secretary available? [] Don't bother to read [] Is your spouse available? [] Have you considered dieting? [] Is your date available? [] Good luck on your new diet [] Were you born that stupid? [] The worst is behind you now [] Considered a personality transplant? [] Considered a brain transplant? [] (K)eep (I)t (S)imple (S)tupid [] KISS [] Were you really born that way? [] I bet you slobber when you sleep [] Are you on drugs? [] Would you haunt a house for me? [] Did you train your own dog? [] Do you date professionally? [] Did your dog train you? [] How about a date? [] What is your ridiculous excuse? [] Do you need help getting a date? [] If BS was asphalt you'd be a freeway [] No charge [] It's been nice knowing you [] Charge [] Kindest regards [] Use your credit card [] Regards [] You will hear further from us [] Sincerely, [] You will hear from our lawyer [] Yours truly, [] See you in Court [] Yours respectfully, [] You will hear from my wife [] Yours till the stars lose their glory [] You will hear from my mother-in-law [] Eventually Yours (for undertakers) * Notes: _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ ZMAG ARCHIVES - REPRINT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- February 23, 1987, Issue 40 Headlines: <*> ATARI CORP. POSTS EARNINGS--1986 A PROFITABLE YEAR <*> EXPRESS! STATUS REPORT--NEW VERSIONS FORTHCOMING <*> LEDBETTER RESIGNS AS SIG*ATARI SYSOP <*> WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI MAGS <*> GAMES COMPUTERS PLAY NOW PLAYING WITH THE ST'S <*> FIRM ACCUSED OF PIRATING SHAREWARE PROGRAMS <*> ADDING A HARD DRIVE TO YOUR ATARI 8-BIT--STEP BY STEP ....Hard Disks For The 8-Bits....... This is the story of how one user achieved the 8-bit Atari owner's dream--upgrading his floppy disk system to 1/4 meg RAM and a 10 megabyte hard disk. It all began when I heard the rumors about a device called MIO promised from a little cottage industry company called ICD in Rockford, Ill. The specs for the MIO looked impressive enough; RS-232 Serial interface, parallel interface, built in print spooler, additional memory for RAMdisk in 256K or 1mb flavors, resident configuration program in ROM and communication along the long neglected Atari parallel buss. What really captured my imagination, was the promise of a SCSI/SASI interface! The original impression that I got was that you could hook up a Hard Drive right to the MIO and be in business. Not quite! Admittedly, ICD had done most of the difficult stuff inside the MIO, but there are several important steps to follow before getting your HD online. Before I go on, let me say a word about a subject that people have given me a rough time about for quite some time. Yes, I confess, (just like the Kellogg Frosted Flake commercials) I am a SpartaDOS user, and I love it! A lot of people have said to me, -how can you USE SpartaDOS, there are so many commands to learn, and there is no prompting!-. Since I use MS-DOS based systems so heavily at work, the similar commands in SpartaDOS are welcome indeed. For those of you who don't feel good without a menu, SpartaDOS 3.2 has a MENU command file built in that looks similar enough to good old Atari DOS 2.x to get most people up to speed. Programmers and people who keep big software libraries will appreciate the Time/Date stamping of each file too. When all is said and done, SpartaDOS brings your Atari into the -Big Time,- but still keeps full DOS 2.x compatibility. Back to the hard drive. What they really don't explain very clearly is a minimum parts list for a successful HD installation on an 8-bit Atari. The following list gives you an idea of how much a hard drive and its associated cables and interfaces will set you back: ICD MIO 256K model $199.00 Adaptec 4000a Controller 135.00 (if you can find one) Controller to MIO Cable 14.95 Controller to HD Cable 12.95 Power Supply (HD & Cont.) 40.00 Case For PS, HD, Cont (opt.) 30.00 Hard Disk (10mb) 250.00 Now Put on Your Peril-Sensitve Sunglasses- The answer is: $681.90!! I guess that the only good news on this price chart is that adding another HD Unit will only cost you the drive itself as the controller will support 2 HD units and the MIO will support 2 controllers. According to ICD, a single 8-bit Atari now has a practical maximum storage size of just a shade under 100 million bytes. Now that we have the cost factor out of the way, if you are still with us, let's go through the steps needed to install a HD on an 800XL (XE's require an additonal $20 adapter for the ECI). Hooking up the MIO to your Atari is easy, just take a screwdriver and pop the cover off of the parallel buss cover plate on the back. This done, carefully slip the short ribbon cable on the front of the MIO into the buss opening and onto the edge connector. It is a perfect fit. You should have no problem doing it right the first time. Next, plug in the MIO power supply (actually the same as an 850 p/s or a Disk Drive p/s). The MIO installation part is now done unless you have serial or parallel devices to connect. The first stumbling block that I ran into was finding a 50-conductor SCSI cable to connect the MIO to the Adaptec Controller. I looked around the area a bit, and even asked some computer repair shops that I do business with, but had no luck. I finally gave up and bought one from ICD directly. They sent me a cable that was about 50 times longer than I really needed, so if you are going to install one sometime soon, let me know; since I have a LOT of cable left over after I shortened it to a more manageable length (two feet). If you buy a MIO with the intent of hooking up a HD to it, save yourself some hassle and buy all of the cables that you need at the same time, their prices at ICD aren't too bad. Once you have the cable in your paw, you need to get a flat file and take about 1/16- off of the ends of the cable clamp that will go into the MIO. Maybe it was the cable that I had, but it was just barely too wide to slip into the slot on the right side of the MIO. Make sure that the colored stripe on the cable points toward the REAR of the MIO as this identifies pin#1. This is an ongoing problem with connecting cables in this installation. Most ribbon cables are -keyed- so that you can't put them on wrong. ALL of the supplied cables and hardware are NOT KEYED, so it's easy to put them on wrong and go nuts wondering why things don't work right. The next task is to connect the SCSI cable to the Adaptec controller. Before we do that, I might suggest that you make a modification to your controller board that I did. Place the controller board on a flat surface with the -select- LED in the upper right-hand corner (away from you). The Drive control edge card pins can be seen on the lower left side next to the power jack. The drive control connector is marked -J2- in white letters on the PCB. With GREAT CARE, take a fine-tooth hacksaw and CAREFULLY cut a notch in the PCB between pins 2 and 3 of J2. This will -key- J2 so that you can use standard cables that are keyed on the pin 1 end. The reason that I did this is because I was making my own cables out of junk cables and had only keyed female edge connectors. If you buy ICD's cables YOU DO NOT have to do this. That done, hook the SCSI cable from the MIO to the 50 pin connector on the top right side of the controller (next to the red LED). BE SURE to have the controller on a flat surface so that you don't screw up the PCB traces when plugging in cables! Make sure that the colored stripe on the cable points toward the LED or things won't work right. Now is a good time to hook up the data line cable, it should be a 20 pin ribbon cable. Plug it into the plug on the lower right side. This plug is marked -J0- and has an identical plug right next to it, the second plug would be used if you were hooking up 2 disk drives to one controller. Make sure that the colored stripe on the cable points to the LEFT. I am using a Seagate ST-412 MFM Disk drive, so I did not want any special options enabled on the board. Make sure that there are no jumpers between the jumper blocks (marked J5) in the middle part of the board (as they come from ICD they are set up with no jumpers). There is only one other jumper set to worry about, It is not identified on the PCB, but is in plain sight just above the plug marked -J1-. Most drives should have this jumper set for R-PU (Write Precompensation Turned off for both drives), fortunately this is how they come from ICD, so unless you are using a weird drive, you should not change ANY jumpers on the controller. The manual that comes with the Adaptec ACB-4000 series controller is very clearly illustrated and contains more information than you will ever need. Just for the record, I never had to refer to it once during my installation. Once both drive cables are attached to the Controller board, you need to find the corresponding edge connectors on the back of your hard drive. In the case of the Seagate, the connectors are clearly marked and keyed so there should be no problems with hookup. Just be sure that the colored wire on the cable points to the side of the connector marked -pin one- or maybe just with a -1-. You might want to check the switch settings or jumpers on your HD to be sure that it is set as unit #0 and that it has a TERMINATION RESISTOR installed (most drives come this way from the factory). You may have to consult your drive manual for more information on this. Again, I lucked out and didn't have to change a thing. The last step on the hardware side is to hook up your power supply to both the controller and the HD. If you are using a standard HD power supply it will have white Keyed power plugs that are difficult to install wrong. They are a bit of a snug fit though, so take it easy, especially on the controller board. At last, plug in and turn on your MIO and HD Power supply. Basically there are 6 steps you have to go through to -prepare- the HD before use. Step One: SET MIO CONFIGURATION. After you have Booted your 800XL from a SpartaDOS diskette and set the date and time, hold down SELECT and press RESET. This will take you to the MIO configuration menu. Now you have to tell the MIO what device you want the HD to be. It can be any device number from D1: to D8:. Make sure that you do not have address conflicts with diskettes and RamDisks already on the system (including the MIO ramdisk). The slick part of this is that later you can SWAP drives after the system is up! If you want to make your HD Drive 2 and a diskette Drive 1, you can change your mind later and SWAP addresses for these devices. This makes it possible to BOOT from the HD, or from a RamDisk for that matter! This is an extremely powerful feature. In configuring the MIO for the HD, you need to know some specs on your hard drive, such as: the number of drive heads, cylinders, and max number of sectors for your type of drive. MIO manual appendix D lists 33 popular HD types by manufacturer. The ST412 is a 4 head, 306 cyl, 39,168 sector device. Just enter this information in on the configuration menu. Make sure that if you are using one controller and drive that ID/LUN is 0/0. This is not well explained in the docs. Press RESET when you are done and you will return to DOS. Step Two: PHYSICALLY FORMAT THE HD The MIO comes with a diskette of utilities to help you set up the HD. The low-level format program is called HDFMTPH.COM in the docs and on the disk. I found out when I bought the MIO that there was a revised HDFMTPH program called HDFMTPH4.COM. You can get this revision off of the ICD BBS. This program asks you some questions about the HD hardware much the same as the MIO config does. Enter in the # of heads, etc. etc. at the prompts. The actual formatting takes a while, so go out and have a beer. Mine took about 15 min for the format process. When the program finishes, it will display a -total number of available sectors on drive- which may be different than the -official- number of sectors for your drive. Make sure that you write this number down, because you will need to change the MIO configuration to reflect the actual number of sectors formatted. The reason that this is important is that the Physical Format Program will -lock out- bad sectors it finds on the media, and the MIO config needs to be told of the exact number of available sectors. Just for information, mine came out a little larger than its -official- specs. The number? 40,392 double density sectors- about 10.3mb! Step Three: PARTITION THE DRIVE This is only necessary if you have a drive that is larger than the SpartaDOS maximum of 16mb or 65535 double density sectors. This is done by going back to the MIO config program by pressing SELECT-RESET and entering in the Start sector (in my case -0-) and End Sector+1 (in my case 40393). The configuration menu is well documented in the MIO manual so you should have no trouble with this. Step Four: SAVE THE CONFIGURATION When you take option -4- from the MIO config menu and answer -Y- to the -Are you sure?- prompt, the entire MIO configuration is written to HD number 0/0. This will automatically reconfigure the MIO if you should happen to turn it off by saving the config. information to sector 0 of the HD. Step Five: DIRECTORY BUILD Again, ICD supplies a utility to write a main SpartaDOS directory to your HD. If you are using another DOS, you will have to fend for yourself. When asked for the -drive number?,- give the DOS ID number for the LOGICAL unit, such as D1:, D2: etc. (in my case I entered in -2-. This program takes about 30 seconds to create the main directory. Final Step: SET UP DOS Copy SpartaDOS 3.2d to each logical Drive partition that you may want to boot from, as I said earlier, the MIO will let you boot from whatever drive you want, so there is no reason not to have DOS on your HD even if it is not D1:. Once DOS is copied into the Main directory, use the -BOOT- command to set the boot flag to that file. The syntax is -BOOT Dn:X32D.DOS- where -n- is your drive ID. The BOOT command is well documented in the MIO manual and in the SDCS manual. That's it!! Now you are ready to amaze your friends with HUGE online storage! Even with making up cables, the total time for installation for me was around 1 hour. If you are a BBS operator or a user with a large file inventory, it makes good sense to upgrade to a hard drive. If you've got the bucks to do it, it's easy! ======================================================================= ZMagazine Issue #177 October 1, 1989 =======================================================================