Z*Magazine: 23-Dec-87 #85
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 07/21/93-09:09:44 AM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Z*Magazine: 23-Dec-87 #85
Date: Wed Jul 21 09:09:44 1993
______________________________________
ZMAGAZINE 85 December 23, 1987
______________________________________
Special Edition Part 3 of 3 parts
Best of Technical Help Columns
______________________________________
Series compiled and edited by:
Ron Kovacs
Published by: Ron Kovacs
(c)1986, 1987 Syndicate Services/Rovac
Assistant Publishers: Ken Kirchner
Susan Perry
______________________________________
Xx A Few Notes...
______________________________________
Here is the 1988 Schedule for Zmag!
NEW PUBLISHING DAY ANNOUNCED
We will release new issues of Zmag
every Monday.
Issue 87 1/ 4/88 Issue 88 1/11/88
Issue 89 1/18/88 Issue 90 1/25/88
--------------------------------------
Issue 91 2/ 1/88 Issue 92 2/ 8/88
Issue 93 2/15/88 Issue 94 2/22/88
Issue 95 2/29/88
--------------------------------------
Issue 96 3/ 7/88 Issue 97 3/14/88
Issue 98 3/21/88 Issue 98 3/28/88
--------------------------------------
We will update this schedule if needed
after this run of issues. Issue 87
will be Volume 3 Number 1.
______________________________________
Xx INDEX 85
______________________________________
<*> A Few Notes.............Ron Kovacs
<*> 256/320K Ramdisk....Steve Ingalsbe
<*> Modify 850 Express......Ol Hackers
<*> SG10 Printer Driver
<*> SX212 Review...........Bob Woolley
<*> 850 Modification........Mike Davis
<*> Speaker Addition.....Mr. Goodprobe
<*> 1050 Notes.................Ed Chop
<*> Notes on XModem...........TeleTalk
<*> DataPac Parameters......Ken Watson
______________________________________
256/320K Ramdisk
______________________________________
256XL/320XE Ramdisk Installer Version
1.0 Distributed by the Twin Cities
ATARI Interest Group (TAIG), Mpls.
Minnesota Original program by Claus
Buchholz - 320XE modifications
by Steven Ingalsbe
The need for this program arose after
I had modified my 130XE into a 320XE.
The only DOS I had that would work
with all of the extra memory was
SpartaDos. This is a nice Dos, but
does not allow me to use the warp
speed of my INDUS. I also use a
modified Dos 2.0 a lot, and had no way
of using it with the 17 banks of
memory that I now had. I tried loading
one of Claus'QXL files into my system,
but it just locked up. I got a copy of
the source code and looked it over.
The only problem I could see was the
way he was switching the OS off, so I
changed that portion of the program so
it would work with all the XL/XE
series (it should work with a modified
1200XL also!).
The program loads the XL/XE operating
system into the underlying RAM and
then turns off the ROM Operating
System(OS). Next it loads the Ramdisk
handler over the European character
set and then hooks itself into the
system. This handler (like Claus'
original)does not format the drives on
powerup. You must do that with the I
function of DOS, or use a XIO 254 from
BASIC (drives 3 & 4).
I also made a few other minor changes.
I reassembled some of his code to
different memory locations; his code
was at the end of ATARI DOS. Many
third party Dos's use more memory than
ATARI Dos, so I moved the code up. It
has been tried with ATARI Dos 2.0, and
2.5 as well as Dos 2.6 (highly
modified). It also will work with
MYDOS,TOPDOS, and SMARTDOS. I have not
been able to get it to work correctly
with DOSXL, it will only setup 1
single density RamDisk. I feel that 1
single density RamDisk with
Synchromesh is better than none.
There are 2 popular programs that will
not work with this handler-SPARTADOS
and BASIC XE. Both of these programs
need the RAM under the OS for their
own use, and we have that tied up.
SpartaDos has its own 256XL and 320XE
handlers so that is no big problem,
but there is no cure for BASIC XE,
sorry. There may well be more programs
that will not work, but most do.
There are a few other things you
should know. Don't press system reset;
it will cause the system to
reinitialize. This causes the system
to go back to the ROM OS. If you do
press system reset, you can get back
to the RAM OS by POKEing 54017,252.
Also, make sure that you set your DOS
up for the added drives. Most DOS's
are shipped set up for 2 drives. I
always set mine up for 4 (2 physical
and 2 RAM drives). All of the DOS's
that I have seen use location 1802 as
the number of drives location. All
that you have to do is POKE 1802,X
then goto DOS and write the new DOS
files. The change will now be
permanent. Use this guide to find the
right number:
# of drives POKE 1802 with
=================================
1 1
2 3
3 7
4 15
NOTE:The drives are set up as 3 & 4,
so you should POKE 1802,15 unless you
have more than 4 drives.
______________________________________
Xx Modifying BBS Express (850)
______________________________________
From:The Ol' Hackers BBS(516)-884-4140
If you have an AVATEX 1200 or the
AVATEX 1200hc this modification may
help your log-ons.
I made these mods because I didn't
like the fact that the users had to
hit Control-M or S to log-on the 850
version of BBS EXPRESS, so I modified
a few bytes to allow the users to log
on by just hitting the Return.
The mods are split-up into to Two
Parts, Part(A) is for the non-HC
version of the AVATEX, and Part(B) is
the change for the AVATEX 1200HC.
The two area's which you are going to
change affect the baud step rates and
the defaults of the the EXPRESS BBS
program for your modem to pick the
phone by starting the baud rate at 300
baud.
When BBS EXPRESS 850 hangs up the
modem, it initializes the modem to
default configurations, and sets the
port and modem back to 300 baud. We
are going to modify part of the code
in EXPRESS BBS. So don't use your
original disk, and get your favorite
disk sector scanner. I suggest that
you use DISKWIZ II, if you have it.
First format a disk in ATARI DOS 2.0
S/D and don't write any DOS files to
the disk. Now copy BBS.COM to your
formatted disk.
PART "A" AVATEX 1200 Non HC
Starting at sector 68;
With byte $38 $00 $0A $0C
-- change this to $0A $00 $0A.
$00=300 Baud
$0A=1200 Baud
$0C=2400 Baud
Since you have the AVATEX 1200, byte #
$32 should be changed to $0A for 1200.
Now write sector 68 back to the disk.
Starting at sector 271
With byte $39
Your changing the text, which tells
the printer log and the user at what
Baud rate he or she logged on with.
$33 $30 $30 $04 $31 $32 $30 $30 $04
$32 $34 $30 $30
$33 $30 $30=text 300 $31 $32 $30 $30=
text 1200 $32 $34 $30 $30=text 2400
I made the following changes; $33 $30
$30 to $48 $2F $53=H/S for 1200 Baud.
$31 $32 $30 $30 to $53 $6C $6F $77=
Slow for 300 users.(hint to get them
to change over to 1200. $32 $34 $30
$30 to $20 $48 $2F $53= Blank Space
then H/S, 1200 again.
Now write that sector back to your
disk. That's it for the non-HC AVATEX
1200.
PART "B" AVATEX 1200 HC Mods
Use the changes in "Part A" with the
following additional change.
Starting at sector # 274
At byte $58 $A0 $00 $8C $7B $30 Change
the $00 at byte $59 to $01 $00=300
Baud $01=1200 Baud $02=2400 Baud
Now write this sector back to your
disk and BOOT up.
Things that will change with your
log-ons.
1) Non HC AVATEX: after the first line
of garbage the 1200 user only hits the
Return key once and he gets the HIT
RETURN prompt. No more hitting the
Control-M or S keys or having the user
log-on first in ASCII then changing
over to ATASCII.
2) The AVATEX HC, will at the connect
automatically prompt the 1200 users to
HIT RETURN without any key strikes at
all.
Note: I'm sure that the "HC" changes
will work with any modem that is a
Hayes compat or the the real Hayes
1200. Also PARTS "A and B" will work
with both versions of the AVATEX,
however, the non HC version will show
the user the ATA command then prompt
them to HIT RETURN.
Special thanks to Keith Ledbetter for
writing the NEVER crashing BBS EXPRESS
and to Chris King for the Hard Drive
back-up program (HARDBACK). Both
authors are with ORION Micro Systems.
_____________________________________
Xx SG10 Printer Driver
_____________________________________
After 2 years of frustration and many
dollars spent on "custom" printer
drivers, I think I have a solution.
Below is a printer driver that I have
been using with great success to solve
many of the Star Gemini - AtariWriter+
problems. It may give you some ideas
to help you build one that will suit
your own needs.
UNDERLINE DRIFT
Most of my word processor print outs
require underlining in NLQ. If you
have tried this with inverse video
underline command you will have a
problem with what is called underline
"drift". The words and underline
"drift" down as the printer does half
spacing. Since I seldom have need for
superscript or subscript, I have
eliminated the type font macros for
these and substituted direct codes for
underline on and underline off (AW+
[controls G8 and G9 are what I use].
My printer driver allows for the use
of inverse video when in draft mode.
To underline in NLQ I use the G8 to
begin underline and G9 to end
underline. NO DRIFT!! Many times I
will creat my document using inverse
for rough drafts and then when I am
ready for final print out go back and
visually key off the inverse video,
insert the G8 and G9 codes there and
"undo" the inverse video using
[control] U.
You will also find that the G8 and G9
codes will give you a "solid"
underline (underlining the spaces
between words as well).
TURNING OFF NLQ AND MIXING FONTS
My printer driver allows some degree
of flexibility to change fonts using
the "G" codes. You will note that all
Font type commands begin with 27 66 5.
This is the SG10 code to turn off NLQ.
If you are in NLQ and want to change
to italics with double strike you may
do so with G5 and G7 command. If you
look at the G1 (pica) commands you
will see the commands to turn off all
the other font styles. It is important
to remember that you MUST "pass
through" G1 to move from all
typestyles except NLQ or you might get
some funny looking print outs.
In effect G1 will "undo" everything
(except underline) and put you back in
draft mode. If you have need for
subscript and superscript AND NLQ
underlining, you may need to make
modifications to this program. This
can be done by substituting sub and
superscript for perhaps Elite and
condenced fonts. If you do this be
sure to also substitute the "turn off
commands" in the G1 (pica) codes. It
would be a good Idea to keep a print
out of which G codes you are using for
what on hand.
It may also be necessary to build more
than one driver if your documents vary
in format. Hope this is of some help
to all the SG10 users.
CODES TO ENTER FOR EDITOR PROMPTS:
Underline off blank
Underline on blank
Backspace 8
Elongate off 27,87,0
Elongate on 27,87,1
Bold off 27,70
Bold on 27,69
Up 1/2 line blank
Down 1/2 line blank
Down 1/2 line and CR blank
Return w/o line feed 155
Font Type Codes
=========================
1 Pica 27 66 5 27 53 27
72 27 112 0
2 Condensed 27 66 5 27 66 3
3 Proportiional 27 66 5 27 112 1
4 NLQ 27 66 4
5 Italics 27 66 5 27 52
6 Elite 27 66 5 27 66 2
7 Double Strike 27 66 5 27 71
8 Underline on 27 45 1
9 Underline off 27 45 0
______________________________________
Xx SX212 HARDWARE REVIEW
______________________________________
by Bob Woolley
For those of you with no modem, or a
SIO connect 8-bit modem, or a 300 baud
modem (leave anybody out?), Atari has
got a great new product for you - the
SX212 1200 baud modem. It has a
standard RS-232 interface for those
users with an 850, or an ST, or a P:R
Connection and an SIO connector for
those 8-bitters who lack an RS-232
box. It is Hayes compatible and even
has a nice row of LEDs accross the
front of the unit to keep you informed
of its status (High Speed, AutoAnswer,
Carrier Detect, Off Hook, Receive
Data, Send Data, Terminal Ready, and
Modem Ready).
The best thing about this guy is that
it only costs $99.95 - List Price. A
product of increasing integration, it
is another level up on the path to
single chip, 1200 baud, modems - much
like the 300 baud XM301 that preceded
it.
I can remember my first RS-232 modem.
It was also Hayes compatible, which
seems to mean that it has to have 6
million switches set before your
computer will talk to it. Not the
SX212. Absolutely nothing to set on
this guy. Move it from your 8-bit to
your 16-bit system ... works just fine
with no switch juggling. Aren't any to
mess with, anyway. My X-Ray Vision
tells me that there are jumpers
inside, but it isn't something the
average guy is going to fool with. I
tried the 212 on my ST with FLASH.
Although I am not any kind of TP
expert, the modem worked just fine. It
seemed to be perfectly happy with
XModem downloads and such. Even the
operator trying to interrupt my call
didn't bring down the modem. Lots of
garbage, but carrier stayed up. This
is exactly what the computer industry
needs - an affordable product that you
just pull from the box and run!
When it came to my 8-bit system, I hit
a little snag. Since the modem would
connect to the SIO port, it has to
either emulate an 850 and the Hayes
modem, or not emulate the 850 and not
work on my 8-bit. Guess which one I
got?? Works just fine on the P:R
Connection as a Hayes (knew that since
it worked on the ST) . Didn't work at
all as an 850. I tried a Status
command to every address on the SIO
buss and got no response from the SX.
One thing for sure, no matter how it
works, the modem requires a handler.
Some devices load their own handler
and some programs replace them with
the handler that the program wants.
So, without a handler, I had no chance
to make the thing work. If the device
didn't even talk to the CPU on the SIO
buss, how could the handler talk to
the modem? The XM301 modem came with
an excellent communications program
and plenty of documentation on disk to
fully describe the handler necessary
for that device. I quickly learned
that an SIO cable (which is not
included in the box - for obvious
reasons. You can't use the SIO feature
without the handler) and a version of
EXPRESS will become available from
Atari at some future date. I should
hope so. Not requiring a P:RConnection
or an 850 can save an 8-bit user as
much as the cost of the modem itself.
This is one of the greatest assets of
this device, the ability to run
without additional interfaces.
Needless to say, this was most
discouraging. Maybe a little hacking
could help?
There was (is?) a company called
Advanced Interface Devices that made a
simple RS-232 adapter for the Atari
SIO buss. Since the SIO is already a
serial buss that can be programmed to
operate in almost any mode, they
thought they could just write a
handler and wire up a cable that would
suffice for RS-232 operation. They
produced the R-Verter and managed to
do exactly what I described - run the
SIO as an RS-232 serial interface.
With this in mind, and a little more
X-Ray Vision, it appeared that Atari
was using the same method on the
SX212. There is a two chip modem set,
a couple of RS-232 receiver/driver
chips, an audio amp, an LS logic chip,
and some sort of clock generator
inside this modem. It would be very
unusual for a modem chip set to be
able to talk to an Atari SIO buss
directly (the XM301 uses a
microprocessor to operate as a modem
and to talk to the buss). So, I had to
conclude that Atari used the R-Verter
approach. Close inspection of the SIO
pins indicate that the -Command line
(pin 7) is not even connected in the
SX212. No way to do SIO without that
pin. No SIO means an RS-232 emulator.
The only one that I am aware of is the
AID R-Verter.
So, I logged on to CompuServe and
looked for an R-Verter handler in DL2.
Luckily, I found exactly what I needed
in a file called RVHAND.XMO. It is an
R-Verter handler that has been re-
compiled for use with HOMETERM.
Following the RVHAND.DOC file, I
created a copy of HOMETERM that would
run on the R-Verter. Booted up on my
SX212 and got the 850 status screen.
Even though the modem is directly
connected, the program thinks it is
talking thru an 850. All the commands
that I needed worked just fine on
HOMETERM-downloads, disk directories,
pauses, everything! Tom Neitzel has
passed on the word that the same
handler will allow the SX212 to run
Amodem 7.4, a program that I am not
familiar with, but is very popular. I
have not tried to replace the handler
in EXPRESS with the R-Verter code. I
don't think that task will be as
simple as re-compiling the code, since
EXPRESS seems to use all available
memory. None the less, those 8-bit
users who own SIO connect 300 baud
modems can upgrade to the SX212 and
start tele-computing immediately with
Amodem or HOMETERM.
One or two more comments.
The manual states that the modem
cannot be used on an 800XL with a
cassette recorder. The Motor line is
fed into the modem and is grounded
thru a 680 ohm resistor. This appears
to upset the 800XL or the recorder or
somebody. I don't see any significant
differences between the 800XL and the
rest of the Atari line in this
respect, so expect this restriction to
apply to all 8-bit models.
A suggestion is made to place the
modem on top of your disk drive and
the phone on top of the modem. Some
telephones have magnets in them - put
it someplace else if you are not sure.
Some disk drives generate considerable
heat, while the SX212 seems very cool.
I put my modem under my drive, leaving
the vents on top of the drive clear
for good cooling.
The bottom line on this modem is that
it is a great value for the money,
performs well and can be used on
either 8 or 16 bit systems with a
minimum of expertise. The 8-bit
software is not yet available from
Atari, but even that can be fixed for
the time being. No modem offers you so
much for so little. Don't overlook
this bargain!!
______________________________________
Xx 850 INTERFACE MODIFICATIONS
______________________________________
by Michael T. Davis
Since I run a BBS here in Ohio, I have
the "need for speed" that most SysOps
who run Atari (8-bit) based BBS'
usually have. One of the things I
discovered early in my BBS setup,
though, was that the software I was
(and am) using (Carina) did not handle
premature logoffs well. Instead of
detecting the loss of carrier
immediately, it just timed out. I was
almost positive there had to be a
better way.
The second problem I was encountering
had to do with the fact that the 850
doesn't reset per se. To reset the
interface, you have to toggle the
power switch off and on. This can get
annoying if you are constantly
switching telecommunications software
or if your 850 is in a hard-to-reach
place.
Solution One:
First of all, it would simplify
matters greatly if you have a 130XE.
While the modifications I am going to
describe should work with all (8-bit),
Ataris I can only give specific
directions for the 130XE, as that is
what I use. At points throughout the
text, I will offer possible
alternatives, when I am utilizing an
XE-only feature.
The 130XE does not use trigger input
four from the missing joystick four
port. We can use this input on the
GTIA chip (pin ten (10)) to monitor
the Carrier Detect line in the 850
almost constantly. (By the way, this
would be a good time to put in a plug
for Sam's Technical Reference Sheets..
they're great for just this kind of
work.) Anyway, first identify the
Carrier Detect (CRX) line on port one
of the 850. Looking at the port, CRX
is the fourth pin from the left on the
top row. Now follow this line into the
850. You are trying to find capacitor
number 117 (C117). It will be the
next-to-last capacitor in a row of
capacitors. We will attach a jumper
wire to the side of C117 that runs to
the 6532 RIOT (RAM, Input/Output,
Timer) chip. Solder it in at that
point any way you like.
The other end is a bit tricky for non-
XE owners. Actually, the XL series
could probably follow the XE scheme,
but the locations of the circuitry
will be different. For XE/XL owners,
solder the other end to pin 12 of the
SIO port (either one). Pin 12 is the
top right pin, as you look at the
port. If you're doing this for a 400/
800 setup, you might try pins 9 or 13.
Note that using either of these,
however, will prevent use for their
original purposes (Proceed and
Interrupt lines, respectively). This
isn't too big of a deal, since no one
has taken advantage of these lines to
date.
As for the computer side, simply
solder a wire directly from pin 10 of
the GTIA chip to pin 12 of the SIO
port. Users of computer models other
than the 130XE should connect this
line from the GTIA to the appropriate
SIO line..the same line they connected
the jumper wire to in the 850.
Now determining the status of CRX is
simply a matter of a PEEK to location
53265 ($D011). It will be either on
(1) or off (0). CRX provides an
inverted output; that is, if you get a
1, then there's NO carrier, a 0 means
there is a carrier.
Solution Two:
Find pin 1 of the 6507 in the 850.
This is the Reset line (and it is
active low). To reset the interface,
we will run a line from this pin,
through the SIO cable, to pin 39 of
the PIA. Note that this will prevent
the use of a cassette recorder (but
then who does serious work on cassette
nowadays, anyway). Connect a wire from
pin 1 of the 850's 6507 to pin 8 of
the SIO port. Now, the tricky part: in
the computer, cut the trace to pin 39
of the 6520 PIA. MAKE SURE YOU ONLY
CUT THAT ONE TRACE!!! Also, to make
sure we are geting a clear signal, it
would be a good idea to cut the trace
at pin 8 of the SIO port in the
computer, too. Then connect a wire
from pin 39 of the PIA to pin 8 of the
SIO port within the computer.
To reset the 850 now, we need to lower
bit 3 of PACTL (54018; $D302). In
BASIC, this is accomplished with POKE
54018,52:POKE 54018,60. (60 resets
PACTL to its original value and puts
the 850 back in "normal" mode.) Note
that if you wish to write an assembly
language routine to accomplish this,
you should use a suitable delay
between the time that you lower the
bit and the time you raise it back to
logic one.
Conclusion:
If you have any problems, or you just
want to get in touch with me, I may be
reached on CompuServe's Atari 8-bit
SIG (ATARI8). My User ID is 72337,2075
I am also online in Columbus, Ohio on
most of the major Atari BBSes,
including Pandora (614-471-9209) and
ACEC (Atari Computer Enthusiasts of
Columbus; 614-471-8559).
______________________________________
Xx SPEAKER ADDITION
______________________________________
Those Were The Good Old Days
by Mr. Goodprobe
Ah, remember when you could go down
the boardwalk and smell the nuts
roasting in the little shops, bikini's
were the most eye-catching thing
around beside mini-skirts, and
skateboards had metal wheels? Some of
the things from then I dearly miss,
and others not at all! Those killer
metal wheels on skateboards quickly
disposed of several pairs of jeans in
my teenage years, and accounted for
numerous shredded elbows, knees and
jackets!
The Atari 800 had one of the finest
keyboards available on the home
computer market, and the entire unit
was designed with longevity in mind.
One nice touch the 800 possesed which
was eliminated with the advent of the
XL series was the internal speaker. I
can remember a game I used to enjoy on
the 800 whose name escapes me at the
moment. The general idea was to spray
the garden with bug spray to rid your
plot of pesky bugs that would flutter
about and devour your veggies. As the
bugs appeared on the screen, from the
internal speaker would arise such a
clatter that you would really have to
stop as it sounded for all the world
that they were ACTUALLY inside your
beloved computer...it was an uneasy
feeling to be sure! Now, just because
you upgraded to an XL/XE doesn't mean
you have to do without this feature
any longer! This will be one of the
simpler projects you will undertake,
but its rewards for the installer will
far exceed the effort expended. This
article will cover the version I
whipped together for the 800xl, and
next issue we will share the version
for the 130xe with you.
Parts you will need:
1. Diode: Part # ECG 177
2. Transistor: Part # ECG 123AP
3. Capacitor: .001 @ 50v
4. Resistors: 1k 1/2 watt
100 ohm 1/2 watt
5. Speaker: 8 ohm 1/2 or 1 watt
variety (The smaller the physical
size the better)
6. Small hook-up wire
Construction:
Dissemble your 800XL, remove keyboard,
metal shield, and screws and place
these items safely aside. You will not
need to remove the PC board from the
bottom of the case.
1. Attach wire to bottom side of
C23. This capacitor can be easily
located by first looking directly
between the RF modulator and the
cartridge slot on the right. find the
middle ground between these 2 points,
then mentally draw a line 3 inches
long back toward yourself from this
point and you see C23. Just above and
to the right of this part is a small
electrolytic standing on end. Found
it? Good!
2. At the other end of the wire
attach your 1k 1/2 watt
resistor.
3. The neatest way to build this
project is to build a large portion of
the needed circuitry right onto the
speaker itself.
Using the lead placement chart solder
the collector of your ECG 123AP
transistor to one of the lugs on the
speaker.
| |
\ * * * /
\ E B C /
\ /
\------------------/
(Bottom view with pins facing toward
you)
4. Grasp your ECG 177 diode, and
connect the end which DOES NOT have
the band on it to the same lug on the
speaker as you connected the collector
of the transistor to.
5. Connect the front (banded) end
of the diode to the other lug of the
speaker.
6. Connect the 100 ohm resistor to
lug of the speaker with the banded end
of the diode.
7. Connect the .001 capacitor to
the base of the transistor.
8. Connect the free end of the 1k
resistor to the base of the
transistor.
9. Locate the small 8 pin IC.
notice the small dot on the bottom
left corner. This is pin 1. Count over
to pin 4, this is the point we will
use for ground. Connect a wire here.
10. Connect the other end of this
wire to the following parts:
A: The free end of the .001 capacitor
B: The emitter lead of the transistor
11. Locate C14. This capacitor is
located directly to the left of the
modulator. The top of this cap is our
5v source. Solder a lead to this
point.
12. Connect the free end of this
lead to the free end of your 100 ohm
resistor.
All that remains to be done is locate
a spot to mount the speaker inside of
the cabinet of your XL. The smaller
the physical size of the speaker you
have chosen, the easier your task for
finding the needed space will be.
Also, it might be wise to use
electrical tape to insulate all
exposed wire leads of your add-on to
avoid any future problems.
Keep those Atari's hummin'!
Mr. Goodprobe
(on lend from) Midtown TV
Atari 8/16 Sales/Repair (216) 633-0997
_____________________________________
Xx 1050 Notes
_____________________________________
By:Ed Chop
Did you know that Atari made two 1050
drives? The newer drives are Tandon
drives and the older drives are WST
(World Storage Technologies). It seems
that the WST drives are quieter and
more reliable, but the belts are more
expensive. The WST drives are
generally not marked as to
manufacturer, but they have NOVACON
motors.
What about these cheap SD drives you
see advertised in Computer Shopper all
the time? Can you use them on your
Atari? Well....yes ....and no. You
can't use them without modifying the
drive or your computer.
By adding a microprocessor and
interface circuits to the drive you
could probably get it to work with
your Atari just like a 1050. But an
easier way may be to take the
mechanical drive assembly from the
cheap drive and wire it to the 1050
electronics. And why go through all
this trouble? Because the cheap drive
that you want to buy should be gear-
driven. They are MUCH quieter and
reliable. According to Bob Wooley,from
the Compuserve Atari Sig Community,
the drive must be one that draws less
power than the original. Bob says that
you may burn up your driver
transistors, although he hasn't tried
it himself, yet.
Another way would be to add a PIO to
your computer. That's a parallel I/O
adapter. Mmmmmmmm..sounds interesting,
huh? Well it seems our friend Bob
Wooley is working on such a project.
The PIO board will plug into the PIO
port in the XL with a 24" cable. The
information for building the PIO will
be available on the Atari Sig when he
has it completed. By adding the proper
controller chip to the PIO, you can
run the new drive with your Atari. But
Bob has a better idea. How about a
parallel 1050 drive that can load a
disk in 10 seconds? Got your
attention, huh? Well, he has an
interface card planned that will plug
into the PIO to run your 1050. That,
too, will be available on the Atari
Sig. We'll be looking forward to that
hardware project.
What's Atari doing to enhance their
drives? Well, to start with, Bill
Wilkinson is working on a new DOS
called A-DOS. Although originally
planned for the promised 3.5 inch
disk, now scrapped, A-DOS is being
designed for a new DD 5.25" drive from
Atari.
_____________________________________
Xx NOTES ON XMODEM
_____________________________________
Ctsy TeleTalk Magazine Issue 12
QUESTION: "I use XMODEM across the
system and transfers take twice [or
thrice] as long as they should. Why?"
ANSWER: As best as I can tell, the
information we were passed from the
Net Exchange BBS was well-meaning but
wrong. Here is the scenario as I
figger it--someone let me know if I'm
wrong, too.
XMODEM sends data in a 132-byte block
that resembles a mini-packet:
<----------Direction of transmission
[SOH] [#] [#] [DATA] [CHK]
| | | | |___ChkSum
| | | +128 bytes of data
| | |_________ block number
| |_____________ Block number
|_____Start of header (ASCII 01)
This closely matches the size of a
Telenet packet (generally 128 bytes)
and can, for our purposes, be
considered a packet's worth of data.
PC Pursuit is set to forward data
only on full packets and on expiration
of idle timers (which are set for 1/10
second).
The delay occurs because a connection
through PC Pursuit goes through four
modems and two entirely separate data
transmissions. Each block of data
must undergo the following (assuming
a download from the BBS to the user):
_____ _________ __________
| |__ ( )__ | |
| BBS | /__( PDN ) /___|PCP user|
|_____| (_________) |________|
|_____| |_______| |_______|
| | |_____ 1.1
| |_Variable (0.1/1+
|__________1.1 seconds
That's potentially 3+ seconds to
transfer data that would take slightly
over 1 second to transmit in a direct
connection--maybe 35% efficiency.
To make matters worse, the
acknowledgment (ACK) from the user to
the BBS may take upwards of a second-
-instead of a fraction of a second-to
be transmitted back into the network,
have idle timers expire, be forwarded
to the outdialer, and be transmitted
to the BBS. As you can see, though,
the real delay is *not* because of the
delay in sending the ACK, but because
the block size and packet size so
nearly match, the two computers are
almost never working simultaneously.
A protocol that uses a larger block
size--YMODEM, for instance--will run
faster over the system, but not
because it needs fewer
acknowledgements. Instead, while
sending the larger block, it causes
data forwarding on a full-packet
condition. After the first packet
gets sent, both machines are doing
work for most of the rest of the
transmission, as such:
BBS USER
""" """"
Start of 1K block
Sends packet 1 Does nothing
Sends packet 2 Receives packet 1
Sends packet 3 Receives packet 2
Sends packet 4 Receives packet 3
Sends packet 5 Receives packet 4
Sends packet 6 Receives packet 5
Sends packet 7 Receives packet 6
End of 1K block
Sends packet 8 Receives packet 7
Does nothing Receives packet 8
(Of course, the BBS is not really
sending the *packet*, just a packet's
worth of data.)
In effect, YMODEM wastes only 2 of
every 9 128-byte transfers; it should
run at about 75% efficiency. In
addition, since it only has a single
ACK per kilobyte (instead of 8), less
time is spent in waiting for the idle
timer to expire.
Of course, to make things more
confusing, there are XMODEM packages
using 256-byte and 1K blocks and
XMODEM packages that allow a "window"
of unacknowledged blocks to be sent,
among other flavors.
Recently, the default parameters for
the PC Pursuit ports were changed; by
whom, I don't know. For best results,
users should break to command mode and
set X.3 parameters 1 and 10 to 0
(disables break to command mode and
word wrap) and set ITI parameter 57 to
1 and parameter 63 to 0 (enable 8-bit
transparent mode). This is all done
with similar commands as those issued
when connecting to Exec PC.
_____________________________________
Xx DATAPAC PARAMETERS
_____________________________________
Ctsy CompuServe Atari8 Sig
#: 188501 S2/Telecommunications
26-May-87 02:14:07
Fm: Ken Watson 73157,3100
To: John Oetter 73657,771 (X)
Hi John,
The method you describe will work if
you are going through a Datapac public
dialport but not if accessing Datapac
through iNet 2000. iNet will _NOT_
allow the user to have a transparent
profile (which is what PROF 3 is
suppose to give you) so you cannot do
any Xmodem U/L to CIS if you are using
Datapac through iNet.
For downloads I use a slightly
different PAD paramater which is as
follows:
PROF 1
SET 6:0,126:4
like PROF 3 you won't be able to see
your last bit of typing. Unlike PROF 3
(correct me here if I am wrong about
PROF 3), you will get your character
echo back after you do the D/L and
your profile will remain open for
subsequent downloads while you remain
on CIS.
Anyway, until iNet installs new
software that will allow 8 bit
transfers you cannot U/L to CIS if you
are using DATAPAC through iNet so poor
schmucks like myself continue to be
able to D/L from CIS but not do any 8
bit U/L.
Ken
Background
Datapac essentialy invloves itself as
a middleman. When you type a letter,
Datapac decides who it is going to,
sends it, and in this case, is echoed
back by Compuserve. This involves
time delays that make it next to
impossible to download! The packet
switching used by Datapac can be
overcome.
Solution
The trick is to get Datapac to switch
off the packet switching. So here's
what you do:
Type a CTRL-P <^P> This is a Datapac
access code. Then type PAR followed by
a <CR>. Type PROF 3 <CR> (you will not
be able to see what you are typing)
Type SET 2:1 <CR> <CR>
Now type in the Compuserve forum
commands to download.
Once again the sequence should go:
1. CTRL-P
2. PAR <CR>
3. PROF 3 <CR>
4. SET 2:1 (remember, you won't see
this line) <CR>
5. <CR>
Happy downloading and uploading! If
you have any comments or suggestions,
please let me know!!
John Oetter 73657,771
______________________________________
ZMAGAZINE 85 Special Edition 12/23/87
Next Issue: 12/30/87
BBS Systems Issue.
(c)1987 Ron Kovacs
Volume 2 Number 52
______________________________________
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
