Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!druwy!dlm
From: dlm@druwy.ATT.COM (Dan Moore)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Problems in Spectre
Message-ID: <4034@druwy.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 May 89 15:50:46 GMT
References: <8905150756.AA25014@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO
Lines: 76

in article <8905150756.AA25014@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>,
RIDDCJ@KIRK.ASTON.AC.UK says:
> 1) My hard disk always has a floppy disk shaped icon in the Finder. 
> Inside the 'file selector' dialogs, it appears as a proper small hard
> disk icon (small rectangle).  Is there any reason why I shouldn't wade
> in to the Finder with ResEdit?

	The Finder hard disk icons are stored in a resource located in
some "hidden" sectors at the start of the hard disk.  The resource is
loaded by the Mac SCSI driver code during boot.  The Spectre does NOT
support the Mac SCSI driver, it uses a different method to hook the ST
hard disk partitions in.  So the resource containing the icon is never
loaded.  Editing Finder probably isn't going to help much.

> 2) The system gets confused if you autoboot off a hard disk with a Spectre
>    floppy in the drive - the floppy isn't recognised by the Finder.  Eject it,
>    and the Finder/Spectre have a fit (seeing a disk come out, I guess)!

	Mac floppy drives use the media change signal to tell the Mac if
a disk is present or not.  The ST ignores that signal, it relies on
checking the disk write protect status every vblank to check for a
change.  So the Spectre can detect a change of disks (removal or
insertion) but not that a disk is already there.  On startup it doesn't
think a disk is present, so the change in write protect status when the
disk is removed is seen as a disk insertion.  It will then try to read
the disk that it believes was inserted.

	You can use the function keys to force the Spectre to see a disk
insertion or removal, check your manual for details.  That will cause it
to see the disk that is already in the drive.

> 3) Any changes I make to the Control Panel (System 6) don't seem to survive a
>    reboot (usnig Shift-Help to restart the ST after ejecting the hard disk).
>    This is really bad news! Yep, all my system files are unlocked.

	Control panel information is not stored in the system files, it
is stored in battery backed up RAM.  The ST doesn't have any battery
backed up RAM.

	There are some Mac INITs that will read the data from disk
instead of the battery backed up RAM.  Dave is also considering changing
the Spectre so it can store the data on hard disk.

> 4) Shift-Undo doesn't reboot Spectre.

	Shift-Undo has worked in all versions of the Spectre I've used,
from early beta copies through version 1.9.  Exactly what is or is not
happening?
 
> 5) Shift-cursor keys don't work, at least not in MS Word 3.01b.

	Cursor keys weren't fully supported till version 1.9.  (See the
next answer for more info on MS Word.)
 
> 6) Word has real memory problems - I have to save every few minutes when Word
>    warns of low memory.

	MS Word 3.01 has some real bugs in the memory management code.
These problems seem to be worse with the Spectre than with a real Mac,
but no one seems to know why.  The new version of Word (currently in
beta test) doesn't have these problems so Dave has quit trying to find
them in 3.01.
 

	You might want to email Dave if you are still having problems. 
He can be reached at:
	boulder.Colorado.EDU!tcr!gadgets!dsmall
		or
	hplabs!well!dsmall



				Dan Moore
				AT&T Bell Labs
				Denver
				dlm@druwy.ATT.COM