Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!chinet!dag
From: dag@chinet.UUCP (Daniel A. Glasser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: starting up UniTerm
Message-ID: <2101@chinet.UUCP>
Date: 12 Jan 88 14:36:09 GMT
References: <98@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu>
Reply-To: dag@chinet.UUCP (Daniel A. Glasser)
Organization: Chinet - Public Access Unix
Lines: 59


In article <98@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu> aoki@postgres (Paul M. Aoki) writes:
+Has anyone succeeded in autostarting UniTerm?
+I've tried:
+
+sticking UniTerm in an auto folder
+	EFFECT: three bombs.
+sticking UniTerm in an auto folder with its aux. files
+	EFFECT: screwed-up screen with a locked kb.
+kicking off a shell from the auto folder, then calling
+	UniTerm from the shell init file
+	(I've tried ash 0.70 and the latest version of Gulam)
+	EFFECT:	ash - random screen
+		Gulam - UniTerm screen appears, then disappears
+			and dumps me back into Gulam
+
+I'm using UniTerm V2.0a 005, the version archived at cs.orst.edu.
+
+Any suggestions?  It seems so pointless to have to doubleclick the
+@#$% icon every time.
[return address omitted]

I'm not sure how many times this
has to be posted before people start
listening, but I'll try again...

Programs executed at boot-up from the \auto folder are executed before
GEM is initialized.  You cannot use any program that uses any of the
GEM AES before the Desktop program is started, which does not happen
until all of the auto folder programs are executed.

This is because in order to fit GEM into the ROMs, the clever guys at
Atari replaced a lot of the in-line subroutine jumps and some other
code with line-F "opcodes".  The line-F trap vector is not set up to
the GEM line-F handler until the desktop program is started, and some
of the handling appears to be in RAM.

Also, GEM requires a lot of context, which must be initialized before
it can be expected to act in a reasonable fashion.  This is also done
when the desktop is started.

Even programs that use Line-A graphics must be careful when running
from the auto folder -- They must provide their own line-a structure
since there is none set up yet by GEM.  This is not much of a problem,
though.

The solution is to use a program that somehow forces the desktop to
execute a program after it has started.  I think this is usually done
using a desk accessory.  I think such programs have been posted to
the net or are available on CI$, and other pay-services.

I hope this helps clear things up.

-- 
					Daniel A. Glasser
					...!ihnp4!chinet!dag
					...!ihnp4!mwc!dag
					...!ihnp4!mwc!gorgon!dag
	One of those things that goes "BUMP!!! (ouch!)" in the night.