PD ROM 1/PD ROM Volume I - Macintosh Software from BMUG (1988).iso/Electronic Messages/USEnet Digests/USEnet Vol. 4/USEnet 4.34

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Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #34
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Subject: Usenet Mac Digest V4 #34
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Usenet Mac Digest     Saturday, March 12, 1988       Volume 4 : Issue 34

Today's Topics:
     Some more A/UX hints (MF, emacs)
     MacWarehouse Flame
     Re: VersaTerm/MultiFinder problem...
     PostScript to HPGL translator?
     Mac Memory/Parity
     A/UX Eschatology Question
     Mac SE hardware question: 4.0 Meg max?
     Re: Beyond Dark Castle review (no spoilers)
     Re: Hard disk survey ?
     Re: A/UX Eschatology Question
     Re: MacMemory SCSI & PCPC Serial to SCSI conversion
     HELP accessing time
     SFPGetFile Problem
     sndplay in MPW C
     Pictures bigger than Memory?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mike Newton)
Subject: Some more A/UX hints (MF, emacs)
Date: 4 Mar 88 12:06:32 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology

A couple of random A/UX hints --

[1] If you use both MacOS and A/UX, and if you prefer Multifinder, you
may have noticed that it was impossible to start 'sash' using MF.  To
get around this, do a "About..."  on the finder and find out how much
memory is left after 'System' and 'Finder' have started, but nothing
else.  Subtract about 20k from this figure, open up the "Get Info" box
on 'sash' and place this number in the memory usage box.  Now you can
start sash under MF (as long as nothing else is running).

[2] If your A/UX was distibuted with an early (before, say 18.46 Gnu
emacs), it will be hard to apply the Gnu patch files to 'src/sysdep.c'.
Instead, just get a copy of the latest (18.50) sysdep from a vax or sun
and apply the below patches.  They are small enough to do by hand if
necessary.  This will allow you to apply further patches easier than
having to use the non-standard one supplied w/ A/UX.
--
Hope these help,
- mike

*** sysdep.c    Fri Feb 26 04:02:55 1988
--- X50NMACsys.c    Fri Feb 26 03:08:59 1988
***************
*** 72,79
  #endif
  #ifdef USG
  #include <fcntl.h>
- #ifdef OREO
- #include <sys/file.h>
  #endif
  #endif
  #endif /* not 4.1 bsd */

--- 72,77 -----
  #endif
  #ifdef USG
  #include <fcntl.h>
  #endif
  #endif /* not 4.1 bsd */

***************
*** 75,81
  #ifdef OREO
  #include <sys/file.h>
  #endif
- #endif
  #endif /* not 4.1 bsd */

  #ifdef BSD

--- 73,78 -----
  #ifdef USG
  #include <fcntl.h>
  #endif
  #endif /* not 4.1 bsd */

  #ifdef BSD
***************
*** 1505,1511
  {
    if (noninteractive)
      return;
- #ifdef TIOCLGET
    lmode =  LINTRUP | lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  #endif

--- 1502,1507 -----
  {
    if (noninteractive)
      return;
    lmode =  LINTRUP | lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  }
***************
*** 1508,1514
  #ifdef TIOCLGET
    lmode =  LINTRUP | lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
- #endif
  }

  reset_sigio ()

--- 1504,1509 -----
      return;
    lmode =  LINTRUP | lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  }

  reset_sigio ()
***************
*** 1515,1521
  {
    if (noninteractive)
      return;
- #ifdef TIOCLGET
    lmode = ~LINTRUP & lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  #endif TIOCLGET

--- 1510,1515 -----
  {
    if (noninteractive)
      return;
    lmode = ~LINTRUP & lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  }
***************
*** 1518,1524
  #ifdef TIOCLGET
    lmode = ~LINTRUP & lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
- #endif TIOCLGET
  }

  request_sigio ()

--- 1512,1517 -----
      return;
    lmode = ~LINTRUP & lmode;
    ioctl (0, TIOCLSET, &lmode);
  }

  request_sigio ()
***************
*** 1900,1906
  }

  /* VARARGS */
-
  setpriority ()
  {
    return (0);

--- 1893,1898 -----
  }

  /* VARARGS */
  setpriority ()
  {
    return (0);
***************
*** 1918,1928
  }

  #endif /* not HAVE_VFORK */
- #ifdef OREO
- utimes ()
- {
- }
- #endif

  #ifdef IRIS


--- 1910,1915 -----
  }

  #endif /* not HAVE_VFORK */

  #ifdef IRIS

[e-mail]    {ucbvax!cithep,amdahl}!cit-vax!newton
Caltech 256-80            818-356-6771 (afternoons,nights)
Pasadena CA 91125        Beach Bums Anonymous, Pasadena President

    "Reality is a lie that hasn't been found out yet..."


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Glenn Heinle)
Subject: MacWarehouse Flame
Date: 4 Mar 88 07:50:45 GMT
Organization: Lockheed Austin Div.



What is the IQ of the average person at a mail-order place? Recently I
purchaced a hard drive from MacWarehouse.  This was the phone
conversation:

    Me:  I would like to order a hard drive.
    SP:  What drive would you like to order?
    Me:  The MacBottom HD45 by PCPC.  What color does that come in?  The
platimun
         or the brownish color?
    SP:  It comes in Platinum or Beige.
    Me:  Great, I'll take it in Beige.
    SP:  OK, that will be one MacBottom HD45 in Beige.
    Me:  Yep.

... Credit Card numbers ... etc ...

Four business days later (not bad, I was happy with the time), my hard
drive arrived for me to play with.  I open the box, and (you guessed it)
platinum. I thought I would get used to the color, and it is not worth
returning just for a different color.  However, the difference between
beige and platinum is just enough it be very irritating.  After a while,
I hate looking on my desk where everything is beige except one box.

Does MacWarehouse screw up orders often?
--
Glenn Heinle
[e-mail]
[phone]


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Gelphman)
Subject: Re: VersaTerm/MultiFinder problem...
Date: 3 Mar 88 19:46:12 GMT
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View


     I've had the same problem with VersaTerm and it was a MultiFinder
bug. I found that if I launched VersaTerm from anywhere except the Apple
Finder (such as with QuicKeys, PowerStation, etc), that the
backgrounding capabilities of VersaTerm went away. This is because the
'shared' bit is set for VersaTerm and MultiFinder has a bug for this
case. The solution is to use ResEdit or DiskTop to uncheck the 'shared'
bit.  Because of some confusion about the 'shared' vs 'cached' bit in
some versions of ResEdit, ResEdit may show the 'cached' bit set instead
of the 'shared' bit. Uncheck it anyway, save changes etc.

This solved the problem for me. By the way, VersaTerm version 3.2 is
available and is much smarter about remembering window placement
assignments, etc. I'd upgrade if possible (just don't forget to uncheck
the shared bit on the new copy you get).

David Gelphman


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bill Roberts)
Subject: PostScript to HPGL translator?
Date: 4 Mar 88 15:21:04 GMT
Organization: High Altitude Obs./NCAR, Boulder, CO

Does anyone out there know of a routine (either running on a Sun or a
Mac) that allows the translation of a PostScript "program" into the
equivalent Hewlett- Packard Graphics Language "program"?  That is, I'm
interested in translating  graphics created on a Mac to an HP printer.

Thanks for any info.

--Bill
--
UUCP: {hplabs, seismo, nbires, noao}!hao!bill
CSNET: [e-mail]
ARPA: [e-mail]
INTERNET: [e-mail]

  "... the Eagle Wing palace of the Queen Chinee'"


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ken Mitchum)
Subject: Mac Memory/Parity
Date: 4 Mar 88 15:30:30 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Lab., Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

I am curious. All the available memory expansion units for the Mac
consist of 8 chips, but the picture of the MacPlus board on the front of
Inside Macintosh, vol. 4, shows 9 chips across. Did the Mac hardware at
one time support a parity bit, and was this dis- continued?

  Ken Mitchum
  Univ of Pgh
  Decision Systems Laboratory


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mahboud Zabetian)
Subject: A/UX Eschatology Question
Date: 4 Mar 88 22:41:50 GMT
Organization: Advanced Technology, Princeton University

What is the difference between escher and eu?  I know that eupdate just
updates certain files.

What is the difference between Eschatology 1 partition and Eschatology 2
partition?

Is there anyway to read from those partition while running A/UX(not
sash, A/UX)?  ( I think I can mount them.  Am I right?)

Thanks.
--
Mahboud Zabetian                [e-mail]
183 Little Hall                     [phone]
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544        [phone]
****** Anyone need a soon-to-graduate hardware/software engineer? ********


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Marty Lee)
Subject: Mac SE hardware question: 4.0 Meg max?
Date: 4 Mar 88 13:29:37 GMT
Organization: Rick's Home-Grown UNIX; Portland, OR.


With all this discussion about memory upgrades, I just read something
from APPLE that stated the SE cannot be upgraded beyond 4 Meg on the
motherboard. Even when 4 Meg and 16 Meg SIMMs come out they won't be
usable on the SE. Anybody out there know if this is true?  Isn't the
68000 capable of addressing 16 Meg? With the screen, I/O  and ROMs the
SE has 8 Meg of addressable memory space?  Right? (Wrong?)
--
              teksce   (Fastest path)
          /            \
tektronix!reed!  omen   !bucket!martyl  (Marty Lee)
              \        /
               percival


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Paul Deragon)
Subject: Re: Beyond Dark Castle review (no spoilers)
Date: 5 Mar 88 06:27:00 GMT
Organization: New York University

Well if you think the game itself has some nice everyday features, try
this:
        On the control panel set the system date to december 25th
        (Yes christmas) and then run Beyond Dark castle. Let the
        short animations sequence run after you hit play.
        Note the fire place and when the wall turns.
        Silicon Beach is known to celebrate XMAS in their mac
        programs. The alson has a neat thing for XMAS in Dark
        Castle.
--
         _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
     | John P.Deragon      -->       deragon@acf8                |
         | N.Y.U Robotics Laboratory   | [e-mail]-arpa |
         |_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_| DELPHI: JPDERAGON           |
                                   | CompuServe: 72160,2010         |
                                   -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
           -------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Lee Atchison)
Subject: Re: Hard disk survey ?
Date: 4 Mar 88 22:17:27 GMT
Organization: HP Information Networks, Cupertino, CA

/ hpindda:comp.sys.mac / [e-mail] (Larry Hattery) /  4:26
pm  Mar  3, 1988 /
>I know somebody out there has been keeping data on all the various
>SCSI hard disks available these days.  I would like to know which
>ones are the best in terms of price/performance/service/quality.
>I'm interested in a 30-60MB drive, and the best supplier to go thru.

MacWorld had an article earlier this year (January? February?)
discussing different hard disks.  It gives a VERY complete comparison
between MANY different types of drives.

--
Lee Atchison
Hewlett Packard, Information Networks Division
Cupertino, CA 95014
[e-mail]


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim Kateley)
Subject: Re: A/UX Eschatology Question
Date: 5 Mar 88 07:38:39 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA

In article <[e-mail]> buzz@phoenix (Mahboud Zabetian)
writes:
>What is the difference between escher and eu?  I know that eupdate just updates
>certain files.

Yep, escher goes through and updates certain files (it uses the cml file
to figure out what to update, but I can't remember where it is in the
filesystem right now...), and eu will update a single file and/or add a
new file to the Eschatology partitions, as well as the cml file for
escher.
>
>What is the difference between Eschatology 1 partition and Eschatology 2
>partition?

I'm not sure what the exact difference is between the two partitions,
but the idea is to have two copies of the critical files at different
parts of the disk (Eschatology 1 at the front and Eschatology 2 at the
back of the disk)
>
>Is there anyway to read from those partition while running A/UX(not sash,
>A/UX)?  ( I think I can mount them.  Am I right?)

Yes, you can use pname to associate the partitions to a slice, then
mount them, BUT, as I understand it, you do not want to do this.  If the
partitions get modified "behind their backs", Eschatology is not too
happy about it.  You should let the autorecovery utilities mess with
these paritions.

Of course, I'm not in the A/UX development team, I just have 2 A/UX
boxes in my office and I'm supposed to know how they work... :-), at
least enough to have them boot whenever....
>
>Thanks.
>--
>Mahboud Zabetian                [e-mail]
>183 Little Hall                     [phone]
>Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544        [phone]
>****** Anyone need a soon-to-graduate hardware/software engineer? ********


--
Jim Kateley          UUCP: {sun, voder, nsc, mtxinu, dual}!apple!kateley
S,P,HnS!             DOMAIN: [e-mail]  Applelink: kateley1
Disclaimer:   What I say, think, or smell does not reflect any policy or
          stray thought by Apple Computer, Inc.


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Fay)
Subject: Re: MacMemory SCSI & PCPC Serial to SCSI conversion
Date: 5 Mar 88 18:13:28 GMT
Organization: /etc/organization

Here's my story on MaxPort, MacMemory's SCSI port:

I have a Mac (originally 128) with a 2 Meg MacMemory daughter board that
has served me well for nearly three years. I wanted a SCSI port as well,
but couldn't afford one until last summer. When I looked into the
MacMemory SCSI port, I was told by several sources, including MacMemory,
that it had been discontinued (I need a MacMemory SCSI port to be
compatible with my MacMemory daughter board). It was discontinued, so
the story goes, because they had difficulty getting the clip that
fastens over the 68000 to stay on. This didn't sound like too much of a
problem to me. Fearing that if I didn't act soon, I would never get a
SCSI port, I started searching for a dealer who happened to have one
left in stock. I never found one, but I did find Richard Silver at
Cambridge Electronics, who said he had installed five or six MacMemory
SCSI ports with no problems. I asked him to try to get one for me, but
he was extremely reluctant - I'm still not sure why. After repeated
assurances from me that I would take complete responsibility for
repairing it if there were any problems and after finding that MacMemory
was still holding a few of the ports for long-time customers like me,
Richard finally agreed to sell me one. He even gave me a terrific price
($135 including installation). To end the story, I have had MaxPort for
five months now with no problems. However, I have only used it with my
DataFrame XP20 so I can't guarantee it works with every SCSI disk.

I would recommend MaxPort for anyone with a MacMemory memory board. You
will have difficulty finding one, as I did. I've heard that MacMemory
ran into financial difficulties recently and was bought out, so I don't
know whether they're even still in business. But if you have a MacMemory
memory board, MaxPort is probably your only choice.

--
David Fay
GTE Laboratories
Waltham, MA 02254
...!harvard!bunny!daf1


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (ephraim vishniac)
Subject: HELP accessing time
Date: 4 Mar 88 15:01:27 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Lyman Taylor) writes:

>I would like to know if it possible to get the Mac to return the time
>to subsecond accuracy.  I am trying to develop a program to record
>reaction times and need times accurate to about a hundreth of a
>second.  I know about the Mac's internal clock and how it can give me
>hrs:min:secs, but is there more?  If not, how do I go about keeping
>track of time myself (is this possible ? ) and how accurate is this?

For elapsed time with a resolution of 1/60th second, look at the Tick
Counter.  It's plainly visible in low memory, and (I think) there's also
a trap which returns the current value.  This counter shows the number
of ticks (60ths of a second) elapsed since you booted your Mac.

Another nice application of the tick counter (game programmers: are you
listening?) is to "pace" the action of games.  Some games on the Mac
adjust their speed by using counted loops to slow things down. When you
run these games on a Mac II or any accelerated Mac, they lose big.
(Actually, the user loses.  Quickly.)  A better way to pace a game is to
decide how long an event should take.  Before starting processing of the
event, store the tick count.  Process the event. Check the current tick
count against the stored one to see if enough time has passed.  If not,
idle watching the tick count until it reaches the required value.  Now,
your game will appear to run at the same speed on any Mac.

For an example of this technique, download <info-mac>dali-clock.hqx from
sumex-aim.stanford.edu.  Full source code is included.  While you're at
it, fix the clock so that it's compatible with color.

Obviously, you don't want to do this for games like Flight Simulator,
where faster updates on a faster machine are a plus.  But it should be
done in games like Adventures of Snake or Brickles, which are unplayable
on a fast Mac.
--
Ephraim Vishniac                      [e-mail]
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214

     On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put
     into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Brad Soe)
Subject: SFPGetFile Problem
Date: 4 Mar 88 18:45:24 GMT
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA


I am using SFPGetFile from the Standard File Package to display a File
selection Dialog Box. I have some extra things in the box (Which is why
I wanted to user SPFGetFile), but I can't quite  figure out how to Get
them to display once SFPGetFile has been  called. I have declared the
standard file items appropriately in my resource template, and
SPFGetFile seems to display  the standard file stuff and handle events
correctly (standard file window and scroll bar, "Drive", "Eject", "Open"
Buttons etc...).

I want to have a text window and a scrollbar in addition to the
Standard file stuff, but can't seem to get them to display once
SFPGetFile has been called.

I have declared in the resource template that the text window be of type
'textEdit' and the scroll bar of type 'userItem'.

Do I need to define a routine that will draw them, or can I just use
'GetDItem' to get the item handle of the 'textEdit' item,  store text in
it (Using 'SetIText'). Then use 'GetDItem'  to get the 'userItem' handle
for the scroll bar, create it,  and then use 'SetDItem' to put it back.

Or am I supposed to use 'GetDItem' to get the 'userItem' Handle,  and
then use 'SetDItem' to set the handle to a ProcPtr that  will draw the
Item?? I tried this, but the draw routine never seems  to be called with
appropriate item number that I want drawn.

I read the about the standard file package chapter in Inside Macintosh
II but it is not really clear how to create 'userItem' items.

I am using LSC v2.15.  Is there a simple solution? Everything is quite
mysterious. Reply by e-mail.

                    Brad Soe
                    internet : [e-mail]
                    NASA Ames Research Ctr.
                    Mail Stop 233-18
                    Moffett Field, CA 94035
                    [phone]


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Fedchenko)
Subject: sndplay in MPW C
Date: 4 Mar 88 22:46:44 GMT
Organization: Reed College, Portland OR

Two questions.

First, why can't I get the sndplay function to work in MPW C? It claims
that it can't find it in the libraries when linking, which is further
confused by the fact that I could get it to work in MPW Pascal.  Can
somebody help?

Second, I would appreciate anybody who would like to explain just how to
use the sound manager routines, mostly on the subject of opening
channels in all their various forms.

thanks.

    - David -


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Richard Siegel)
Subject: Pictures bigger than Memory?
Date: 28 Feb 88 22:36:24 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University


I've run into an interesting situation. Under some conditions, when I'm
drawing a picture, I run out of memory. I don't get a bomb 25, and
MemError is still zero, but my picture is empty.

My question is, how can I intercept conditions when a picture being
drawn runs out of memory?

I suppose it's possible to spool a picture, but some of these turkeys
are going to be huge ( >=150K), and on floppies, one can run out of
space quite easily, which is no better than running out of memory.

Thanks in advance.

        --Rich
--
===================================================================
Richard Siegel
Confused Undergrad, Carnegie-Mellon University

The opinions stated here do not represent the policies
of Carnegie-Mellon University.

Arpa: [e-mail]
UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,sun}!andrew.cmu.edu!rich.siegel
==================================================================

------------------------------

End of Usenet Mac Digest
************************
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