Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!grkermit!masscomp!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!HFISCHER%USC-ECLB@MINET-CPO-EM
From: HFISCHER%USC-ECLB%MINET-CPO-EM@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Softalk's Screen Saver
Message-ID: <14505@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-83 01:33:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.14505
Posted: Thu Dec 15 01:33:00 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Dec-83 01:00:33 EST
Lines: 25

I am submitting the Screen Saver program from the December Softalk
to the Info-IBMPC library.

I have only found one product Screen Saver is not compatible with,
IBM's APL language.  (It seems to work well so far with all else I
have tried, including word processors, Kermit, Basic, Logo, debug...)

With APL the problem is that once APL finishes loading, when you press
a key strange things happen, such as garbage spitting on the screen
and the CPU locking up (unloadable, and, yes, believe it or not,
un-cold-startable).

I have never seen any software which makes the processor unable to
restart by cycling power, except scrnsave and APL.  Apparently
something somewhere in the system has a large electrolytic capacitor
which takes forever to discharge, and that item is screwed up with
this software combination.  Waiting a good half minute apparently is
enough to clear this incredibly strange situation.

The only fix I can think of is to have your APL startup procedure peek
at the interrupt vector and if it sees scrnsave, quit right there.

Herm Fischer

[SCRNSAVE.BAS has been added to the Info-IBMPC library. -Ed.]