Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU!GTHEALL From: GTHEALL@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (George A. Theall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro Subject: Rainbow EchoMail Digest Message-ID: <9001021340.AA18063@remote.dccs.upenn.edu> Date: 2 Jan 90 13:37:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 234 Rainbow EchoMail Digest Jan 2, 1990 In this issue: CP/M SALES-PITCH RE: Z80 NULL MODEM RAINDOS V1.0 (2 messages) Z80 RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5 (2 messages) FORMAT Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are currently gatewayed automatically to the Rainbow Echo on Fidonet; thus, you do not need to take any special action to respond to articles in these digests. Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of this digest to GTHEALL@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (ARPA Internet). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 To: FRANK MALLORY Subject: CP/M SALES-PITCH From: PAUL OLSON Frank, Thanks for the reply. No sales pitch was intended. When I received my IDRIVE, the IFORMAT program was CP/M only. I do seem to have heard that Suitable is now providing IFORMAT in DOS format. The 'bow to IBM disk which I was referring to is a special disk which Caroline Mack asked me to put together. Unfortunately (for DOS users), the most convenient way to distribute all the files was on the CP/M side of the world as DOSFLX is PD, while I don't know if RDCPM (as supplied with DOS) is PD. At least I hadn't seen that it was. Since there are a lot of folks running 2.01 DOS, I couldn't be sure that everyone had RDCPM. I know that the individual files are available on other WARUG disks, but Caroline was putting together a special 'bow-IBM product. I'm not sure if she ever advertised it in the RAINBOW NEWS. I know she is still selling it. Interestingly enough, in the last four months I have received a number of calls from folks doing that transfer. I was chairman of WARUG recently, and DEC is still giving out my name as a Rainbow resource! <:-O As Always, Paul --- ConfMail V3.31 * Origin: The Pot of Gold - (703-359-6549) (1:109/103) ------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 (12:13) To: FRANK MALLORY Subject: RE: Z80 From: CARL HOUSEMAN As others have said and you've found, faster parts do not a faster 'bow make. It's like putting 91 octane into a car designed to run fine on 87 (presuming it doesn't have a knock sensor). The V20 vs. 8088 makes a difference because the chips' INTERNAL timing for specific operations is different. The V20 can do more work than the 8088 in the same number of 4.77 Mhz clock cycles. --- * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123 ------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 (13:27) To: ALL Subject: NULL MODEM From: PATRICK FINK Could someone tell me what pins to swith to make a null modem adapter? -pat --- * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (Opus 1:109/123 ------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 To: GEORGE THEALL Subject: RAINDOS V1.0 From: FRANK MALLORY GT> Does anyone know whether RX50 will work on an XT-class machine? GT> Or how common it is to find XT's with 1.2MB drives in them? XTs with 1.2MB drives are not very common. You need the proper controller card and DOS version in addition to the hi-density drive itself. I don't see any advantage in RainDOS over RX50. If somebody REALLY wanted to do the Rainbow community a favor, they would figure out a way to let us replace our RX50 drives with RX33s. --- msged 1.99L MSC * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123) ------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 To: GEORGE DAHLCO, SYSOP 102/ Subject: Z80 From: FRANK MALLORY GD> Don't expect too much - your master clock speed is still 4.77MHz. The GD> new geartrain might be able to take it but if you can't increase the GD> rev's you'll never see the horsepower increase :-) GD> GD> It *could*, however, run cooler, and may have some microcode GD> refinements which might speed up some instruction execution. Let us GD> know the results of your tests. GD> GD> Happy New Year... GD> GD> -George, 102/138- GD> GD> --- msged 1.999 The jury's not in altogether, yet. Hey, George: Do you have MSGED 1.999 working on a Rainbow? Happy New Year to you and all other Rainbow diehards here. --- msged 1.99L MSC * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123) ------------------------------ Date: 12-31-89 To: GEORGE THEALL Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5 From: FRANK MALLORY GT> FM>If you can do it all in one piece, how about uuencoding Marks' GT> FM>program and GT> FM>sending it to me? GT> GT> I think that would be a bad idea. If the ZIP came out corrupted, at GT> least you found out before attempting to run a program. What would GT> happen if I sent the executables for Marks' UUENCODE/UUDECODE? GT> Problem was that UUDECODE appeared to run OK - - no error messages - - but it produced a ZIP file of zero length. I assume it has something to do with the fact that it was a multi-part file, because it works alright with a single-p file. Of course, I edited the files first to join the separate parts together, without the overhead text. When you use Marks' program, do you still have to edit the files to reconstitute the whole thing? --- msged 1.99L MSC * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Maryland - 301-622-2247 (1:109/123) ------------------------------ Date: 12-30-89 (07:12) To: ALL Subject: FORMAT From: CHRIS SWEET I have a friend who has a rainbow and we can't access the hard drive.. We think that it might not be formated...we always get read erro how does one go about formmating a hard drive on the rainbow thur msdos.. ------------------------------ Date: 01-02-90 (08:25) To: FRANK MALLORY Subject: RE: GRAPHICS ON A NON-LA5 From: GEORGE THEALL FM>Problem was that UUDECODE appeared to run OK - - no error messages - - but FM>it produced a ZIP file of zero length. I assume it has something to do wit FM>the fact that it was a multi-part file, because it works alright with a sin FM>file. Of course, I edited the files first to join the separate parts toget FM>without the overhead text. But what about the answers to my questions, Frank? To get a zero length file something must have been seriously munged by a mailer somewhere. I suggest, though, that we take this up privately. Can you mail me the uuencoded file back again? I'll compare it against what I originally sent you for any differences. FM>When you use Marks' program, do you still have to edit the files to reconst FM>the whole thing? No. The eof is marked with the keyword "end". Additionally, if the file was generated by Marks' UUENCODE there's checksum information following this. When his UUDECODE finishes processing a physical file it prompts for the next file in the sequence and processes that. It continues until is sees the keyword "end". George --- ~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Every man has his price ------------------------------ Date: 01-02-90 (08:33) To: FRANK MALLORY Subject: RAINDOS V1.0 From: GEORGE THEALL FM>GT> Does anyone know whether RX50 will work on an XT-class machine? FM>GT> Or how common it is to find XT's with 1.2MB drives in them? FM> FM>XTs with 1.2MB drives are not very common. You need the proper controller FM>card and DOS version in addition to the hi-density drive itself. Surprisingly, a prof at Penn operates in this setup. I knew he was interested in doing so, but until he contacted me saying he WANTED RainDOS I had no idea he had succeeded. FM>I don't see any advantage in RainDOS over RX50. I don't either, except for those like this professor. FM>If somebody REALLY wanted to do the Rainbow community a favor, they would FM>figure out a way to let us replace our RX50 drives with RX33s. Actually, I thought Richard Thomsen's BIOS changes held lots of promise. The limitation is you have to get the current BIOS in source form. Anybody know whether a disassembler would do this adequately? George --- ~ EZ 1.23b4 #263 ~ Dyslexics of the world - UNTIE! ------------------------------