Received: by E40-PO.MIT.EDU (5.45/4.7) id AA18880; Sun, 11 Feb 90 20:28:41 EST Received: from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL by ATHENA.MIT.EDU with SMTP id AA23183; Sun, 11 Feb 90 20:29:31 EST Message-Id: <9002120129.AA23183@ATHENA.MIT.EDU> Date: Thu, 8 Feb 90 05:02:58 BST From: "Info-IBMPC Digest" Reply-To: Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL Subject: Info-IBMPC Digest V90 #14 To: "Info-IBMPC Distribution" Info-IBMPC Digest Thu, 8 Feb 90 Volume 90 : Issue 14 Today's Editor: Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea Today's Topics: ASCII => PostScript Conversion BITFTP@.. Compress/Decompress compatible under MSDOS Kermit 3.0 Official LISTSERV Access to SIMTEL Archives Menu Program PD & Shareware Program of 1989 Award (2msgs) Today's Queries: undocumented Op in 80286? 386sx Hard disk problem! Problems with Turbo Pascal TPU files from PD archives Programmer's "Paradise" New programs: DECOMP.ARC - Unix-compatible 16 bit uncompress, w/C source Recent msdos uploads to SIMTEL20 (correction) LOCK.ARC - Lock kbd to protect network connects,w/ASM src TIMESTMP.ARC - Display current date & time on standard output Send Replies or notes for publication to: Send requests of an administrative nature (addition to, deletion from the distribution list, et al) to: The Lending Library is available from: WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (see file PD1:AAAREAD.ME details on file directories and descriptions.) Archives of past issues of the Info-IBMPC Digest are available by FTP only from WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL in directory PD2:. WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL can be accessed using LISTSERV commands from BITNET via LISTSERV@NDSUVM1, LISTSERV@RPIECS, LISTSERV@FINTUVM and in Europe from EARN TRICKLE servers. Send commands to TRICKLE@ (example: TRICKLE@TREARN). The following TRICKLE servers are presently available: AWIWUW11 (Austria), BANUFS11 (Belgium), DKTC11 (Denmark), DB0FUB11 (Germany), IMIPOLI (Italy), EB0UB011 (Spain) TAUNIVM (Israel) and TREARN (Turkey). If you are unable to access SIMTEL20 via Internet FTP or through one of the BITNET/EARN file servers, most MSDOS SIMTEL20 files, including the PC-Blue collection, are available for downloading on the Detroit Download Central network at 313-885-3956. DDC is a networked system with multiple lines that support 300, 1200, 2400, and 9600 bps (HST) at a cost of 17 cents per hour. It is also accessable on Telenet via PC Pursuit and on Tymnet via StarLink outdial. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 13:28:43 EST From: John Wyman Subject: (ASCII => PostScript Conversion In PC Digest v89n124, Wolfgang Wuerz was looking for a way to print ASCII files on a Postscript printer. In PC Digest v90n7, Grant Hoover referred to a commercial program called Trading Post. There is another program that prints such files from the PC to a Post- script printer. It is the commercial program "PC LaserWriter Program" that comes with the "AppleTalk PC Card", which connects an IBM PC to an AppleTalk LAN network. LaserWriter (LW) allows a limited amount of font control and will print files from several formats: WordStar; MultiMate; ASCII; Diablo 630; PostScript; Lotus Spreadsheet; and Lotus Graph. (I've used only ASCII, never the others yet). I've used it a lot from ASCII files, controlling text font size. The few other controls available are these: Portrait or Landscape layouts; and Escape sequences for Boldface, Italics, and Boldface Italics only. John Wyman, Research Computing Academic Computing Services Syracuse, NY 13244 (315) 443-1145 BITNET: LIBJCW@SUVM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1990 00:24 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: BITFTP@.. Greg, BITNET nodes can request files from BITFTP@PUCC. To get a copy of the help file, send mail (or interactive message) to BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET. In the message, include the text; HELP and you'll get information mailed to you on how to use the BITFTP facility. I don't know if it can access the Info-IBMPC archives. --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 08:07:58 GMT From: MCGDRKG%CMS.MCC.AC.UK@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (JANET) Subject: Compress/Decompress compatible under MSDOS Here follows my findings for decompressing UNIX compressed archive files under MSDOS. 1) There are many archives available to the MSDOS user which have been compressed by UNIX compress programs. For example the Pascal-L digests available at Simtel. These are essentially text files created with a wordprocessor and compressed to a binary format by the UNIX program. 2) The files usually have the name structure -- filename.extension-z. They should be FTP`d etc as a binary file and downloaded to a PC in the usual way. 3) Once on your Hard Disk (make sure there is plenty of space!) they can be decompressed. There are to my knowledge at least two programs that will do this running under MSDOS. The first is available as a `C' source code from comp.sources.unix volume6/Misc.Patches1. The copy I recieved was obtained as a Shar archive and can be uncracked with a MSDOS compatible program. This prog. can be found in the directory PD1:SHAREXE.ARC from Simtel. The other compress/decompress program is archived as COMP410E.ARC and can be downloaded from Simtel in directory PD1:. The documentation on this is not good and it took me a while to discover how to decompress a file. Try the following at the DOS prompt: comp410e -d outfilename or comp410e -d filename Without the -d option the it acts as a compress program. 4) Finally once you have, at last, decompressed the archive you will find that it is text but not very pleasant to read, if you used the DOS `type' command, and will not print out very well. If you have Norton Commander (Ver 3) you can use the view facility to look at the file. This will tell you what wordprocessor has been used and will automatically text format the file for you. Please note that Norton's view supports 8 wordprocessors and all ASCII files. I found the paticular archive I was interested in to be created using Wordperfect, and I have no reason to doubt the other archives will be different. Many thanks to all who replied and for your help in this matter. Bob.Gowans JANET: R.Gowans@uk.ac.MCC Internet: R.Gowans%MCC.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu Dept Civil Eng, EARN/BITNET: R.Gowans%MCC.ac.uk@UKACRL U.M.I.S.T, UUCP: ...!ukc!umist!R.Gowans Sackville Street, Manchester. FAX: [044 61 | 061] 200-4016 M60 1QD. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 07:16:48 GVA From: Revised List Processor (1.5o) Subject: File: "IBMPC-L MAIL" being sent to you Received: from WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL by CEARN.cern.ch (Mailer R2.05) with BSMTP id 8038; Mon, 29 Jan 90 07:15:39 GVA Received: by WEIZMANN (Mailer R2.05) id 0693; Sun, 28 Jan 90 23:53:57 +0200 Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 23:53:49 +0200 From: NYHILLAV@WEIZMANN To: ibmpc-l@cearn sub yossi carmel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 08:46:29 MST From: rtravsky@CORRAL.UWyo.Edu (Richard W Travsky) Subject: Kermit 3.0 Official The release of Kermit 3.0 is apparently official. FTP it from: WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU as MSVIBM.EXE down the kermit/bin directory. Other MSVIBM.* files can be found in the kermit/a directory. As for the support for networks (like DECNet, 3Com, or Novell), the recent Info-Kermit digest had the following request for all Kermit hackers: > NETWORKS DEPARTMENT Kermit includes high-level interfaces for a variety of local area network protocols (Netbios, DECnet, NASI/NACS, etc), but it does not include device drivers for specific network boards and it does not execute the TCP/IP or Telnet protocols. Kermit is Kermit and can't really afford (in terms of space and complexity) to do this. What is needed here is a public-domain (or copyright but free, like Kermit) program which executes Telnet (like NCSA) over TCP/IP, allows drivers for various Ethernet boards to be plugged in, and can be run as a TSR interceptor for Bios Int 14H, the communication port interrupt. Such a program would work through Kermit's SET PORT BIOS1 command. Several such programs already exist, but they are commercial products. There is some possibility that a future release of NCSA Telnet itself will provide the desired Bios hook. We'd like to start collecting information about how to set up MS-DOS Kermit 3.0 to work with various kinds of PC LANs (or vice versa!), similar to the information in MSKERM.HLP about Novell networks. If you have hints about setting up and using 3.0 with DECnet-DOS, 3COM, Netbios, Starlan, etc, please send them in and we'll start collecting them into a file called MSVIBM.NET (no such file yet). Particulars about which programs and versions are used, how to run them and in what order and with what options, etc, would be very useful. > This seems like a good place to repeat this call for volunteers. The following was also in the this digest: Subject: Kermit Required in Government Contracts? We have heard many reports that certain requests for proposals or bids from the US government for computer-related equipment include a requirement that the Kermit protocol be supported. We'd like to hear about any RFPs or contracts, past or present, that called for Kermit. Knowing about such things helps us to convince those who need convincing that Kermit is not just a toy used by hobbyists. Anyone knowing anything about this, might send it to the Info-Kermit people (particularly CMG@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU). I'd be interested in this as well, so maybe CC me or Info-Vax? Thanks. Richard Travsky Bitnet: RTRAVSKY @ UWYO Computer Services Internet: RTRAVSKY @ CORRAL.UWYO.EDU University of Wyoming ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1990 00:27 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: LISTSERV Is it possible for users on BITNET to access PD2: from the FTP Server (LISTSERV@NDU..)? No. NDSUVM1 and RPIECS only carry a subset of our archives. That directory is not included. --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 09:08:56 CST From: Gary Samek Subject: Menu Program On Tue, 23 Jan 90 18:51:58 MST you said: >I set up DIRECT ACCESS 4.0 from Data Technologies, Inc for my Dad's >computer. Has MANY levels of menus (Up to 11 I think) but is very >easy to use, maintain, et al... My brother bought it for my dad, >so I don't know how much it costs... > >Gregory Hicks >------- Thanks Greg, I will certainly look into it. Thanks again. Gary Samek Bitnet C133GES@UTARLVM1 Telnet C133GES@utarlg.arl.utexas.edu ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 90 9:05 -0800 From: Thomas Wong Subject: PD & Shareware Program of 1989 Award >4dos is good, but I nominate Anarkey by Steven Calwas! It's a nice way to >UN*X'ify a PC, including filenamecompletetion, aliases and commandlineediting. >Most of these features are included in 4dos too, but Anarkey is easier to >integrate into the standard dos environment. I too like Anarkey better than 4dos. I second your nomination. Thomas. ------------------------------ Date: 29 Jan 90 10:17 -0800 From: Thomas Wong Subject: PD & Shareware Program of 1989 Award What I think I really like about Anarkey that hasn't been mentioned yet is to ability to execute several commands on one line. Much like in Unix where you can type " prog1 ; prog2 ; prog3 ; prog4 ". This is very much like running a batch file but I don't have to write a batch file, execute it, then erase when I finished. Thomas. Thomas Y. K. Wong INTERNET: thomas_wong@civil.ubc.ca **/ Graphics Lab twong@civil.ubc.ca * */ Civil Engineering BITNET: thomas_wong%civil.ubc.ca@ubcmtsg * */ University of B.C. twong%civil.ubc.ca@ubcmtsg * */ Vancouver, B.C. UUCP: ...!van-bc!civil.ubc.ca!thomas_wong * */ Canada ...!van-bc!civil.ubc.ca!twong * */ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jan 90 20:42:35 EST From: hkucs!hkucc!hraubut@uunet.UU.NET Subject: SUBSCRIPTION Re: Subscription to IBMPC DIGEST Dear Sir, I wish to become a member of the IBMPC DIGEST. I enclose personal details and a short biography. Name: Malcolm Butler Title: Mr. Institution: University of Hong Kong Department: Music Position: Lecturer EMail Address: hkucs!hkucc!hraubut@uunet.uu.net Phone: Hong Kong 8592894 Address: Department of Music University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Country: Hong Kong Biographical Sketch: I am a musicologist at the University of Hong Kong. I teach a range of historical and technical courses, but my specialism is in the secular vocal music of the Baroque. Recent research has centered around the development of computer applications in musicology, especially the design of an "intelligent" musicologist's desktop. I am interested in any application of computers to humanities disciplines, especially those applications that involve artificial intelligence and the development of expert systems. I studied at the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool, England. I came to Hong Kong in January 1985, since when I have been involved with a dramatic growth in the use of technology in the undergraduate music curriculum, as well as in the Arts Faculty generally. It is important for academics in a place as remote as Hong Kong to feel part of a larger academic community, so I'm especially pleased to be able to communicate with others who share similiar interests. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Jan 90 11:49:50 MEZ (Tue) From: hl351ge@unidui.uni-duisburg.de (Veit) Subject: undocumented Op in 80286? Has anyone (except INTEL) detailed information about the undocumented Assembler command LOADALL in the 80286 processor? Codeview and TD (Borland) can unassemble it; it has the machine code 0F 05 (Try out this). Ray Duncan say it is frequently used in OS/2; I myself detected it when unassembling HIMEM.SYS from MS-Windows. What I found out is this: LOADALL reads a number of words from Memory area 80:0 into internal Registers (known ones as AX,BX,...CS,IP, but also nondocumented ones that nevertheless MUST EXIST). The interesting feature is that the undocumented Registers are the hidden 48 bits of the Segment registers that are used to carry the Descriptors from GDT/LDT-Tables in protected mode. Assume the IBM-AT Gate-A20 is enabled, it is possible to access the full 16 MB memory without switching to protected mode (!!). HIMEM.SYS actually does this! This magic is over when the appropriate segment register which data was 'bent' is overwritten in Real Mode by a segment load or override prefix. What I dont know is: What is the exact mapping of the area 80:0 ... 80:xxxx ? I know some positions, e.g. the location of LDTR / GDTR / CS / IP, but not all of them since HIMEM does not need them all. I also didnt succeed in implementing a WORKING program to access the 15 MB of memory like himem does (crashes!). Please send Reply to hl351ge%unidui.uucp@unido.bitnet (Holger Veit) university of Duisburg Electrical Engineering, Institute of Dataprocessing Bismarckstr. 81 4100 Duisburg 1, Federal Republic of Germany Thanks! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 90 10:16:37 EST From: Claude Daoust Subject: 386sx I recently read that the 386sx chip may cause problems when running Unix os. More specifically, the problem seems to be with data throughput due to the 16-bit memory and bus. As I was interested in purchasing an SX and would probably like to run some version of Unix on it, I would appreciate anyone who'd like to share their experiences with an SX chip and a Unix os. Also, I once posted a question asking if anyone could recommend a book or perhaps an article with some general info. on memory stds. such as LIM, EMS and also on expanded and extended memory. I'm asking again.. thanks CDAOUST@ca.acadvm1.uottawa ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 10:56 GMT From: KEEK%TNO.NL@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU Subject: Hard disk problem! Hi Netlanders, About a month ago I discovered an annoying problem concerning the hard disk in my XT-clone. My system is the following: - LASER XT/3 with clock speeds of 4.77 and 10 MHz. - SeaGate ST225 Hard disk / Interleave 1:3 - Western Digital Controller WDXT-Gen The problem is: Running the XT at the clock speed of 4.77 MHz gives no problem in matching the 1:3 interleave, reading one track in 3 revolutions of the hard disk. For a XT is this reasonable, so I can live with this (although of course I would like a 386 with a HD, access time 18 ms. interleave 1:1, but hey not everyone can afford that). The problem starts when putting the XT in TURBO mode at 10 MHz. One way or another the controller?? cannot cope with this speed, and as a result it cannot make the 1:3 interleave. Hence it takes 17 revolutions to read one track. A result is for instance that starting TURBO PASCAL takes 5 secs at 4.77 MHz and 10 secs at 10 MHz. One solution is of course to change the interleave to 1:4, but I know the machine is possible to cope with 1:3. It is then very annoying jumping back and forth TURBO mode when using a large program in TP which means jumping in and out TP. My questions are: 1. Is this normal, and if so can anyone explain why? (the importer in Holland didn't seem to understand the problem, and at the shop where I bought the XT they tell me that they know of the problem!) 2. If this is not normal, can anyone help me to run my HD at an interleave 1:3 at 10 MHz. Thanks in advance, Theo. BitNet : KEEK@HDETNO51.BITNET KEEK@TNO.NL ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 90 10:55 EST From: Subject: Problems with Turbo Pascal TPU files from PD archives This may have already been discussed, but I haven't been able to find it in any of my previous list messages. I've gotten five ARChives from the Turbo Pascal PD library at SIMTEL20. Each time I've made the request and gone through the process to d/l them to my system (I make the request from a VAX/VMS system), then un-arc the files and try to compile the example .PAS files using the given .TPU files, I keep getting "format error in TPU file". This happens with ALL of the TPU files I've gotten so far from SIMTEL20. I wouldn't mind, only that the source for the TPU files has not been given in any of the ARCs I've gotten. Anybody got a solution for me on how I can convert the TPUs into the right format or maybe tell me what I need to do when d/l them? Thanks in advance, boB Rudis BITNET: RER1@SCRANTON ------------------------------ Date: 28-JAN-1990 19:08:29.95 From: Markus F. Boie <203013%DHHDKRZ5.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> Subject: Programmer's "Paradise" A few months ago i purchased 3 copies of CommandPlus 3.0 from a corporation named Programmer's Paradise through a friend visiting the US at that time. As it turned out the packs were incomplete (the programming toolbox mentioned in the ads were missing). I wrote a letter - no answer. I sent a tele-fax - same result. I'm gonna send them more complaints but i fear they're faster in throwing them away than i am in writing them... Has anyone encountered similar problems with that sort of "paradise"? Is there any special way to get them talking to me? Markus ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1990 01:18 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: DECOMP.ARC - Unix-compatible 16 bit uncompress, w/C source [--forwarded message--] From: B.D.Ripley I have uploaded to SIMTEL20: pd1: DECOMP.ARC Unix-compatible 16 bit uncompress, w/C source An number of requests on the net recently were for an MS-DOS based uncompress. The files in this archive do this, including for 16-BIT compressed files. JANET: b.d.ripley@uk.ac.strath.vaxe BITNET: b.d.ripley@vaxe.strath.ac.uk or b.d.ripley%strath.vaxe@ac.uk or UKACRL INTERNET: first BITNET form or b.d.ripley%uk.ac.strath.vaxe@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk | Prof. Brian Ripley, Dept. of Statistics, University of Strathclyde, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH Thanks, Brian! --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1990 09:19 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: Recent msdos uploads to SIMTEL20 (correction) On Friday, 26 January 1990 I announced the following upload to SIMTEL20: pd1: CDISK433.ARC Disk catalog system also does ARC/PAK/ZIP/LBR That was a typographical error. The filename is CDISK443.ARC. --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1990 00:26 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: LOCK.ARC - Lock kbd to protect network connects,w/ASM src [--forwarded message--] From: John Wolchak Ph. 4852 I have uploaded to SIMTEL20: pd1: LOCK.ARC Lock kbd to protect network connects,w/ASM src This program will lock your keyboard to protect the network connections while you are away from your desk. Thanks, John! --Keith ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1990 11:36 MST From: Keith Petersen Subject: TIMESTMP.ARC - Display current date & time on standard output [--forwarded message--] From: Robert E. Zaret I have uploaded this file to SIMTEL20: pd1: TIMESTMP.ARC Display current date & time on standard output This program can be invoked from batch programs to measure intervals or log activities. The output has the form: dd mmm yyy hh:mm:ss where mmm specifies the month in characters (JAN, FEB, etc.). The package includes an executable file for DOS only, OS/2 protected-mode only, and either. Thanks, Robert! --Keith ------------------------------ End of Info-IBMPC Digest ************************ -------