#: 5270 S1/General Interest 16-Jul-90 21:40:32 Sb: #5086-CP.AR Fm: Paul Hanke 73467,403 To: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 (X) Thanx, Pete. Will check it out. -ph- #: 5271 S15/Hot Topics 16-Jul-90 22:28:02 Sb: #5252-32 bit bus? Fm: Frank Hogg 70310,317 To: Mark S 76004,373 (X) I think that I should have composed my message to you offline. I'm not confused, your not confused. Lets start over. Actually I did compose a message to kevin D. that covers some of this so I won't repeat it here. In other areas I agree with you (I think) anyway read the message I sent (will send) to kevin next #: 5272 S15/Hot Topics 16-Jul-90 22:34:04 Sb: #5258-32 bit bus? Fm: Frank Hogg 70310,317 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Kev Good information... at last! I'm only trying to reduce the amount of calls 'I' get by responding to the question. The question related to the 16 bit K-Bus vs the 32 bit MM1 bus and why. I know why the K-Bus is 16 bits and now I know why the MM1 has a 16/32 bit bus. Thank you. PS I'm glad they liked the way the TC9 works. Imitation is the best flattery... Now don't start with the TC70 vs MM1. (heh heh) As to your questions. #1 re the TC70 upgrading to a 68030. Not possible, we did not design it that way nor have we ever claimed that capability. The K-Bus is expandable by replacing single function cards (CPU's etc) with better ones ie: replace a 68000 CPU with a 68030 CPU. The other bus cards would still be used. The TC70 is a multi-function card and only one can reside on the bus at a time. It would have to be removed to upgrade the system to a 68030 for example. All multi-function cards are less expensive to build because they do not have the added cost of the bus for each function but they have the disadvantage of inflexibility. That's why we offer both options. Spend more and have flexibility, spend less and have less flexibility. In any case other K-Bus cards added to a TC70 system would work with any CPU/multifunction card so not all would be lost. BTW I have no intention of doing a 'shared-RAM adaptor' for the TC70. The TC9 does that and that is enough for now. I may change my mind later but not for now. #2 The 5% loss was total system thru-put in a real life situation. I'll see if I can get the specifics from Dave about exactly how he arrived at those figures. This was done when the 68030 board for the K-Bus was being designed (6-8 months ago) and I don't recall the details. In one case a 68030 K-system replaced a 68020 20x system and the thru-put doubled, the K-system was twice as fast as the 20x. (the 20x has a 32 bit data bus) However there is more to performance than data bus size etc. The whole system and all its parts contribute or detract from the overall performance. cont... #: 5273 S15/Hot Topics 16-Jul-90 22:35:03 Sb: #5258-#32 bit bus? Fm: Frank Hogg 70310,317 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) The faster each area goes the faster it all goes. We, you and I etc tend to dwell on minute details when it is really total system performance we should be looking at. I think it is a good idea to release you (I didn't know you weren't) to discuss any and all plans that FHL has. I hope that doing this will encourage Paul to do the same. His ads and promotional material leave much to guess about. I think he may also be losing some sales due to this, at least in this group. I've found that the CoCo OS9 users do not go for hype. As the old TV series Dragnet used to say, "the facts mam, just the facts" You hereby have my permission to discuss anything with anybody about what we are planning unless I specifically ask you not to. Sometimes we talk about possibilities as opposed to actual plans, no point in talking about anything that's just in the 'talking' stage anyway. You may also inform the asker if I have requested that you not discuss a subject. Heck, I'm so open about what I'm doing that it puts me at a competitive disadvantage anyway, why stop now. Frank There is 1 Reply. #: 5288 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 05:30:29 Sb: #5273-32 bit bus? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Frank Hogg 70310,317 (X) Frank -- Aye, I agree on "just the facts, ma'am" from FHL and KLE. That's why I chided you on the "sounds familiar" remark. Too close to a slam. And I thought it was amusing that you'd tell Pease that it was "Nice to hear from you directly instead of thru others. You should call me if you have any questions about what my plans are instead of using the round about way." That's funny, because I and others answer for both companies indirectly on many BBSs; and because your second sentence applies to yourself answering Q's about KLE's hardware . Deja vu. Anyway, enuf chiding! It's to be assumed that each company will put its own products in the best light; and usually vice versa. That's the biz. Perhaps the debate in the forum will shed more light all around. Or perhaps add to the confusion. Sounds like fun, anyhow... as long as it doesn't degenerate into the infamous Owlware hard disk ads type of thing ;-). BTW, your Q&A files have helped a lot of people, I'm sure. Interesting reading. Re: "I think it is a good idea to release you (I didn't know you weren't) to discuss any and all plans that FHL has. I hope that doing this will encourage Paul to do the same." Great! Better email me with reminders of any subjects you still consider taboo, first, tho. Same for Paul, if he's reading. As long as Wayne (and Marsha!) put up with me, this'll let me be independent about beating on both companies . - kev #: 5319 S15/Hot Topics 18-Jul-90 13:05:22 Sb: #5233-32 bit bus? Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 To: Frank Hogg 70310,317 Frank, Who has been instructed to discard the MM/1 when upgrading to the 32 bit bus? None of our literature mentions that. If you let us know who called you about that, I'll be glad to call them and explain our upgrade path to them. Thanks! Paul #: 5274 S15/Hot Topics 16-Jul-90 22:43:06 Sb: #5268-##5233-32 bit bus Fm: Frank Hogg 70310,317 To: Kevin Pease 70516,1633 (X) Kevin Nice to hear from you directly instead of thru others. You should call me if you have any questions about what my plans are instead of using the round about way. Anyway thanks for the information and please see my reply to K.D. about the 5% etc etc. I will have to wait for Dave to return from vacation for the information. As far as competing with paul and selling the MM1 as you suggest. No thank yo. If you remember I did not want to do your MM1 back in December and my reasons havn't changed. I think the TOMCAT approach is the best way for me and CoCo users. You and Paul think the MM1 is the way to go. GREAT! competing will only inprove the market and the products both companies produce. If Paul were to join forces with me as you suggest I think the product would cost more and not have as many features. Also Hazelwood has been doing OSK longer than anyone else and their port and support software is without a doubt the BEST available. It will take years to duplicate that by anyone else. I guess I'm just spoiled and don't want to move backward. Frank Hogg There is 1 Reply. #: 5294 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 20:00:46 Sb: #5274-#5233-32 bit bus Fm: Kevin Pease 70516,1633 To: Frank Hogg 70310,317 (X) Frank Everyones OSK software is good since when you do a port most of the software is from microware. The Idea behind OS9 is for microware to provide 99% of the OS with the person doing the port suplying only 1%. it is misleading to think that any ones OSK is beter than another persons. It only takes between 1 and 2 weeks to do an os9 port and that is only if you have unusual hardware. Most of the osk problems start with microware and are shared equally with all users. I speak from experience here. I have been using GIMIX hardware for about 4 years. We both know how long they have been at it. I have also done about 5 ports. There software suffers from the same problems as the software that I have after doing the port. OSK 2.3 has manny problems which Hazlewood will share with Paul and every one else who uses it. The computer that I am using now is a 68030 which I ported OSk to about 1 year ago. Most of the problems that I have had have been related to problems with OSK itself. That is why there is a new version about once a year. Frank I wish you the best of luck Weather Paul or you suceed will not affect my using of OSK or my designing of new hardware. Kevin Pease #: 5275 S15/Hot Topics 16-Jul-90 22:52:57 Sb: Upload QNA2 Fm: Frank Hogg 70310,317 To: SysOp (X) I have uploaded TC2.QNA to lib15. This is the second Q&A file. Please do your thing. Thanks Frank Hogg #: 5278 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 00:59:44 Sb: #5120-Is Basic out of date? Fm: Mike Guzzi 76576,2715 To: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 (X) ~ Oh yes I agree! I will still use Basic09 on the MM/1 for my "quick 'n Dirty" utilities to do a job or to test stuff for C since now I will be getting into C more with the MM/1. My observations were not complete.. just on the surface the Basic doesn't seem that much faster but overall its improved over the CoCo version (no barrier and better gfx thats expected) Mike #: 5280 S5/OS9 Users Group 17-Jul-90 01:49:25 Sb: #5263-MOTD Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 Lemme see what I can dig up. Thx Bill! #: 5281 S9/Utilities 17-Jul-90 02:08:50 Sb: #5222-#Reading OS9 Directorys Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 To: Zack Sessions 76407,1524 (X) Could you give me the formula for translating directory information into something readable? It would save me a headache.... It sure is different than good ol' RSDOS dirs! I'm still in the learning mode for this baby! I just resently conceived how basic09 disk I/O works in setting up files. I'm used to the old 'FIELD' command from BASIC. It certainly has opened new doors for me! I have some great ideas brewin'! Thanks for the help. There is 1 Reply. #: 5284 S9/Utilities 17-Jul-90 04:31:02 Sb: #5281-#Reading OS9 Directorys Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 (X) George - yah, someone should do a tutorial on the dir layout. It's really quite simple. The technical manual (RBF) section has the details, but it takes some snooping around on a disk to put two and two together. Do you have the dEd disk editor downloaded? That tool will be very helpful in checking out the disk setup... a must-have program. Once familiar with it, a tutorial will be easier to follow. It usually only takes about 20 minutes to teach someone over the phone to fix and follow his os9 dir structure, in my experience. I'll look into writing something up (if someone doesn't beat me to it - please! grin). Kev There is 1 Reply. #: 5315 S9/Utilities 18-Jul-90 11:20:55 Sb: #5284-#Reading OS9 Directorys Fm: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Yeah, I have the dEd program. That can be very useful. What we need is tutorial on reading directorys as opening a file, getting the information and converting it into something readable like a 'dir e' would do in Basic09. That is the only thing holding me back at this moment from writing a badly needed utility. I work alot of hours so I don't get to devote the time that I would like to to figure out how to get that information. The best I get to is to read the manual while working. Now that's fun! If I could just get a little push in the right direction, I could really get started on a few things. The manual tells what certain things do by using syscall, but it doesn't tell you how to convert the information into something readable. We need a book called "Inside Basic09" real bad! ...Anybody wanna write it?{ If I didn't have to work so much..... There are 2 Replies. #: 5321 S9/Utilities 18-Jul-90 15:52:13 Sb: #5315-Reading OS9 Directorys Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 How about a different (and possibly easier to answer in a msg) slant on this... would a basic program which opened the current dir and printed a "dir e" style output give you enough of a jumpstart? I'd bet that several people here could whip one out.... a specific request tends to find responses. ? #: 5323 S9/Utilities 18-Jul-90 17:17:04 Sb: #5315-Reading OS9 Directorys Fm: Pete Lyall 76703,4230 To: George Hendrickson 71071,2003 George - Piece'o'cake... Just open the directory as you would any file, and instead of just READ, open it for READ + DIR modes. Then, read it in 32 byte chunks. The chunks are broken down: filename[29] LSN_of_FD[3] If the 1st byte of filename is 0, then the file has been deleted. Also, filenames may be less than 29 characters. The last character always has the high-bit (i.e. 'A' + $80 = $C1) set. The LSN is the absolute sector number where that file's File Descriptor Sector (FD) is stored. In the FD sector is all the information about file owner, dates, attributes, size, and physical mapping on the disk. Best bet is to read the technical manual on the RBF file manager to get detailed breakdown on this. BTW - what's the utility? It's hard to imagine a flavor of directory based utility that hasn't already been written for OS9. Pete #: 5282 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 03:05:08 Sb: #5264-Dedicated CoCo3 Fm: LARRY OLSON 72227,3467 To: Lee Veal 74726,1752 (X) Lee, I'll have to do some more checking but from the ad's that I have found, the UPS's that are available are not like the system you were talking about. They appearently are the type that run the system on line power and switch to the batteries on a low voltage or outage condition. I get this impression because they all talk about 1 or 2 ms switching time. I'm not sure yet about the price range, I need to sit down and estimate the power requirements, from what I see so far the cost could be anywhere $200 to $1500 depending on power needed. If I can slide into the low end, the cost shouldn't be too bad. Larry #: 5285 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 04:31:13 Sb: #5266-Memory Size Testing Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: DENNIS SKALA 73177,2365 Sounds great. Don't forget that the 1-meg DAT can't be read back from, btw. If you need any tech help or info, just yell. - kev #: 5286 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 04:31:27 Sb: #5265-OS9 Level 2 Upgrade? Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: KENHEIST 71750,551 I guess the bad news is that it got shunted aside for a while because of the new 68K machines. The good news is that the interest kept up enough that the long-delaying docs are being worked on again. The other good news is that you got a nice slice of it already via the fast-Grfdrv and gfx2 uploads. Also, something may be happening which'll put a new slant on this whole deal. Maybe not. Stay tuned! #: 5287 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 17-Jul-90 04:31:42 Sb: #5185-MSDOS Disks Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: Jim Chapman 72557,1120 (X) Hi Jim - MW sells a msdos file manager called MSF (?) or something like that. Also, a coupla people have typed in and compiled the msdos file manager example that's in their new OS-9 Insights book by guru Peter Dibble ($40 from MW... 515-224-1929). Hmm. We still need to ask if that can be uploaded. From the other direction, I'm not sure if there's a util for MSDOS which'll read/write OS9 disks. Perhaps someone else knows. This subject will get hotter in a few months as more people acquire 68K machines; bet on it ! best - kev #: 5291 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 14:49:51 Sb: #5205-Special! QUICK! Fm: Paul K. Ward 73477,2004 To: Jim Williams 72157,3524 (X) Jim, oops -- I've lost track of the conversation here -- if you want to use a SCSI drive, Seagates are what we're using around here -- the 157N is a typical choice. Paul #: 5293 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 17:51:03 Sb: UUCP testers Fm: Hugo Bueno 71211,3662 To: Mark Griffith Mark, Have you received an Internet message lately from a guy named Bob Billson? He's interested in being a UUCP tester, but was having trouble getting mail over to CIS. His address is kc2wz@ka2qhd.uucp or kc2wz5ka2qhd.tsdiag.ccur.com He finally managed to get through to me so I assume he has probably reached you already. Hugo #: 5297 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 22:53:06 Sb: #5243-#QIC 40 Tape Drive Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) o7>% SB>;5,g)|`n92Xsq.<' Not in the >$280 bracket. However, require the full attention of the CPU is something I can live with compare to swaping a great number of floppies. Can this be done under RSDOS? Nam P.S. foe There is 1 Reply. #: 5308 S10/Tandy CoCo 18-Jul-90 04:42:30 Sb: #5297-QIC 40 Tape Drive Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: NAM PUI 73347,3324 Nam - anything can be done. Finding someone to do it is another thing tho. You could write the QIC people and ask for all their tech docs... and then perhaps ask for volunteers or write it yourself. Personally, unless I had say, monthly data from a business which I wished to keep stored away, I'd instead get a second hard disk to keep a backup on. That's what i used to do here. best - kev #: 5298 S10/Tandy CoCo 17-Jul-90 22:56:02 Sb: #5243-QIC 40 Tape Drive Fm: NAM PUI 73347,3324 To: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 (X) Forget I mentioned RSDOS. It wouldn't know my hard drive exist. I am have some problem with the phone line. That account for the garbage in the previous message. Nam #: 5299 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 23:47:43 Sb: #Comparison Fm: Michael P. Brown 76220,1014 To: Frank Hogg Uhhh... I'm a bit puzzled by your comparison in TCVMM.CMP. It seems you left a few things out. Bpsed on available information I have revised your comparison just a bit... and hope it's closer to the mark. I won't upload it to the data libraries as I am not completely sure of it's veracity. TC70 MM1 w/2nd board Advantage ============================-================-====================-=========== Memory RAM 1.5 Meg 1 Meg Tomcat Max RAM 11.5 Meg 9 Meg Tomcat RAM Cost 2 Meg - $500 2 Meg - $150 MM/1 Expansion Bus K-Bus (16bit) 96pin 32bit BUS ? Expansion cards available 20+ a none yet Tomcat DMA Stereo sound No* Yes MM/1 TC9 (CoCo) compatible Yes No** ? Keyboard interface AT XT Tomcat Video outputs RGBI & CM8 RGB CM8 RGB MultiSync ? Serial Ports 3 2 (or 1 plus 1 MIDI) MM/1 Parellel ports 1 2 MM/1 DMA SCSI adapter Yes Yes - Case/power supply/install. No Yes MM/1 1.44 Meg 3.5" drive No Yes MM/1 DMA floppy disk controller Yes Yes - 16 million coior option ?? Yes ? Bundled Software OSK/C/Basic OSK/C/Basic + more*** MM/1 MS-DOS compiled compat? No Yes MM/1 Hi-Res Tandy Mouse port No Yes MM/1 Serial Mouse port Yes Yes - 8 Bit Tandy joystick port Yes Yes - Real Time Clock/battery Yes Yes - continued next msg. There is 1 Reply. #: 5301 S15/Hot Topics 17-Jul-90 23:51:26 Sb: #5299-Comparison Fm: Michael P. Brown 76220,1014 To: Michael P. Brown 76220,1014 continued... *We are planning a sound board for the K-Bus that will address this difference. **KLE has announced a device called the 'OS-Gateway'. This is a parallel port cartridge that plugs into a CoCo and allows it to use the hardware on the MM1. ***KLE plans to also include about $700 worth of bundled software goodies, such as a graphics editor, word processor, term program amd others. Charles West (Using my partner's account - we are considering the possibility of locally dealing one of these new machines as an alternative to the PC LAN systems that we usually set our clients up with. ) #: 5302 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 18-Jul-90 00:00:12 Sb: #Serial Without Tears Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: All Just thought I had to say something to somebody. I actually connected my CoCo to something via a serial port and it worked the first time (well, once I corrected an address in a descriptor, but that's hardly anything compared to puzzling out what wires to cross as yet another victim of the RS-232 "standard"--is that anything like jumbo shrimp, or military intelligence?). There is 1 Reply. #: 5309 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 18-Jul-90 04:45:07 Sb: #5302-Serial Without Tears Fm: Kevin Darling (UG Pres) 76703,4227 To: James Jones 76257,562 (X) JJ - whatcha need is one of those rs232 gizmos someone used to sell, which automatically figured out the correct connections. Wonder what happened to those? Maybe they didn't work so well ? Congrats on getting it to work! #: 5303 S3/Languages 18-Jul-90 00:07:48 Sb: #5250-Clib Documents Fm: Ken Drexler 75126,3427 To: Mark Griffith 76070,41 Mark, Thanks for the message. I will look for the mroff documents in the library. Could you upload the missing sleep.txt and system.txt files? Also they should be added to the .ar file. Ken #: 5304 S3/Languages 18-Jul-90 01:18:40 Sb: #Clib docs Fm: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 To: Mark Giffith 76070,41 to: Mark Griffith 76070,41 subject: clib docs Mark, A few more problems with the new clib docs. 1. I belive that the page for defdrive() is missing. 2. A couple of formatting problems (doesn't mroff do line wrap???). The pages for _gs_rdy, password, and unixtime all contain lines which are too long for the right margin. This causes an extra line feed(s) which mroff is not aware of with the result that the page breaks are out of sync. I fixed it by inserted a CR in the offending lines. All we need now is an index (hint!). This package of docs is a vast improvement over the previous situation--at least now I only need about 4 manuals (instead of 5!) open on my desk. Thanks again. BTW, what do the numbers at the top of the pages mean: (3c) (3s), etc. There is 1 Reply. #: 5312 S3/Languages 18-Jul-90 07:20:21 Sb: #5304-Clib docs Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: Bob van der Poel 76510,2203 The numbers probably roughly correspond to those you'd find in Nuxi--er, Unix--manual pages (1 for programs, 2 for system calls, 3 for standard I/O and other library functions). #: 5305 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 18-Jul-90 04:23:37 Sb: Lib 12 uploads Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 (X) Ed, TOP15.TZ did not make it completely, and was not merged into the library. TOP14.TZ DID make it, and is safely ensconded there. Wayne #: 5306 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 18-Jul-90 04:26:53 Sb: TOP - Munich Release 2.0 Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: SYSOP (X) SYSOP, Uploaded disks14 and 15 of the TOP series this AM. Ed #: 5307 S15/Hot Topics 18-Jul-90 04:28:43 Sb: OSKer Fm: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 To: Scott Griepentrog 72427,335 Hi Scott! Please add my name to your mailing list. Ed Gresick PO Box 78 Middletown, DE 19709-0078 Thanks, Ed \ex #: 5316 S7/Telecommunications 18-Jul-90 11:21:43 Sb: #5260-WIZ Query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 I like the TEXT & Spell check, too, in fact, that's what is keeping me in DeskMate. The printer driver for the dot matrix printer is so limited that the frustration level is off the scale. I've used PC-Link to register a problem (they said nobody else complained but they would forward the complaint) and I've used the voice line to Ft. Worth. The voice response was an offer to help me set the printer with BASIC and use the (really dumb) ASCI printer driver! I agree on HST - Wonder how Fordyce feels? #: 5317 S7/Telecommunications 18-Jul-90 11:24:10 Sb: #5261-WIZ Query Fm: Ches Looney 73016,1336 To: MOTD Editor..Bill Brady 70126,267 Nothing for MOTD. Sturdy old CoCo just keeps running. I use it with UltiMusE, WIZ and DynaStar for music, comm and wp. I plan to go to Atlanta in October. See you there? #: 5318 S12/OS9/68000 (OSK) 18-Jul-90 11:47:56 Sb: 3.5 disks Fm: Jim Chapman 72557,1120 To: Ed Gresick 76576,3312 Ed, I assume you reeived my message re: the 3.5 inch disks. Can you send them OK? -Jim Chapman 72557,1120 #: 5320 S10/Tandy CoCo 18-Jul-90 13:16:48 Sb: patch needed Fm: Joseph Cheek 76264,142 To: all Where might I find the patch to allow 25/200 row-windows on my Level II OS-9? I cannot seem to locate it. Thanks. #: 5324 S14/misc/info/Soapbox 18-Jul-90 19:02:44 Sb: August RAINBOW Fm: James Jones 76257,562 To: All I've seen a copy of the August 1990 RAINBOW. I intend to write Falsoft a letter commending them for it. If only they'd done this kind of thing a couple of years earlier, the CoCo world would be far better off, in my personal opinion. Press !>