Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!att!bellcore!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!SFAUSTIN.BITNET!Z4648252 From: Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET (Z4648252) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: HARDWARE CAPSLOCK INDICATOR for the ST Message-ID: <890921.15250846.043320@SFA.CP6> Date: 21 Sep 89 21:40:03 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 35 A while back, I asked the net if anyone has any clues on how to build a caps/lock indicator for the ST. Most replies bordered on the fact that this is typically done via software display, i.e., corner indicators, etc. However, since the ST lends itself so well to emulating anything other than the Amiga (grin) that it loses software caps/lock indication. Heck, how was Atari to know back in 85 that it was going to regularly run IBM and Macintosh software??? Bill Hendricks mailed me a working Giodata product called The TIME-SOURCE. Essentially, it is a unit that plugs into the keyboard. One removes the keyboard encoder chip, plug the Giodata in and then install the encoder chip in a provided area. TIME-SOURCE gives no only a battery backup to the clock but also a LED caps/lock indicator. Since I have a Mega, I ignored the battery installation for the clock. Happily, the caps/lock LED still worked. So, if you emulate other systems, you might try to dig up TIME-SOURCE. As far as I know, the product died a couple of years ago. Why...? Well, the caps/lock indicator is not particulary intelligent during crashes and bombs. If the ST is in all upper case mode during a crash, and if you reset the computer, the LED will not bump off, reverting to lower case as the computer does. In other words, after recovery and if the LED was originally shining, it will remain shining, in spite of the true condition of the case. This is a minor fault for me, though. However, I'll bet that the problem was a major reason for the product to be pulled. Secondly, if one wants to hack on the product and try to fix the aforementioned problem, all the chips are unmarked. EEK! Anyway, this is a nice addition. I'm impressed. Sure wish that someone could work on this concept... With the ST emulating so many other products, it is needed. Larry Rymal: |East Texas Atari 68NNNers|