========================================================================= (C) 1995 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information. ========================================================================== Topic 3 Tue Dec 22, 1992 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] (Forwarded) Sub: FALCON 030 - Help and Questions Ask here if you need help or have a technical question to ask about the FALCON 030 computer. This topic is designed to inform users about the FALCON and discuss it CURRENT details and characteristics. 202 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 1 Tue Dec 06, 1994 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 02:15 PST Hi Folks: I'm a new owner of a FALCON 4/84. This unit came from your coop Sheldon back in Aug 93. I now have your fine product to try Nathan, the 93 version that I talked about to you about. Anyway, I want to get some things for my new machine and I asking for your suggestions. Thank you. First, a RAM board. I want to take the FALCON to its full RAM. What boards are out there and who has them? GEnie address? CPU upgrade. I thinking more speed. Same questions as above. Last for now. I need a source for the SCSI II cables. I want to hook up my SCSI drive. I need to go from SCSI II (FALCON out) to 50 pin female connector (to connect to my drive). ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 2 Tue Dec 06, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 08:42 EST Roy, Cubercube sells a software mouse manager that lets you use a PC serial mouse with any Atari. Works great. A demo is in the libs. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 3 Tue Dec 06, 1994 ICDINC [Tom] at 13:47 EST Roy, No term resitors on the first drive. Use them or else an external terminator on the last drive. The Falcon motherboard probably has termination resistors installed and acts like the other 'end' of the SCSI bus. Term resistors on two drives could cause errors. - TOM - ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 4 Tue Dec 06, 1994 B.SEMAAN [Binary Sound] at 18:59 CST Roy, There are software prgs that will let you use a serial mouse on the Falcon (you'll also need to make an adapter to rewire the pinout). The gotcha is that you won't be able to use the mouse at the same time as your modem, or anything else connected to the modem port. I'd recommend finding a Microsoft PC InPort (Bus) mouse and soldering a DB9 plug on it so it can be used on the Falcon's mouse port. I did that myself over a year ago, following the instructions I found in a text file here in the ST libraries and will never willingly use a different mouse again. I've been told you can find Microsoft bus mice very cheap at PC swap meets and such. Bob ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 5 Tue Dec 06, 1994 R.IRBY3 [Roy] at 23:32 EST Tom, I'll pull those resistors. Thanks! BTW, what is the latest version of SCSI Pro? I am currently using the version that shipped with ICDBOOT 6.5.5. Have there been any major upgrades since then? Maybe being able to do away with ADHI and HDX _comletely_? Al and Bob, Thanks for the info. I really don't want to have to swap modem/mouse. Seems that they could use the enhanced joystick ports instead of the modem port. Anyway, I don't know if this mouse I bought comes in a bus version. I think it only comes in PC Serial or Mac. Do ya think the mac could be hacked? I'm gonna keep the Serial version for my PC at work anyway. Roy. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 6 Tue Dec 06, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 22:24 PST David, I finally got here from the "For sale: Wanted" topic! 8^) Anyhow, you'll need verification, but I believe you want the FalconWing for ram upgrade. At the most general, you want a ram upgrade which directly replaces the existing ram board and takes one (1) Mac SIMM, 4 or 16 meg. SCSI-2 cables: any of the dealers on-line can help you. They run from around $25 (3'), to $35 (6'). CPU upgrade: I'm drooling for the Speed Resolution Card from Hard and Soft in Germany. It costs about $250 and gives the motherboard clock speeds of 16, 18, or 20 MHz, and gives the CPU, FPU, and Blitter speeds of 16, 18, or 20, as well as clock-doubled 32, 36, and 40 MHZ! Wow! It also claims to allow True color in interlace in excess of 640 X 480, though I theorize that It'll do 640 X 480 TC non-interlaced. Blow-Up will do about 560 X 420 TC on the right monitor. Also, I've heard mumbles about another card from Germany which'll take the FPU and DSP to 50 MHz. Don't know if the two will work together. Could you imagine?! There's a little blurb in the Europe report in this month's ST Informer re: the Speed Res Card, check it out. I'll be getting specs soon and will try to upload them. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 7 Wed Dec 07, 1994 REALM [Joey] at 01:35 EST David, Sheldon is your man for all that stuff.:-) He's S.WINICK here on GEnie. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 8 Wed Dec 07, 1994 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 01:05 PST Dan: Thanks for the information. I keep looking for post on the Speed Res Card. WoW! I like the speeds on the card. I hope it comes into production. REALM: Thanks for Sheldon. I may write him. I know Computer Direct, Toad, and Computer Studio. Anybody on the west coast? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 9 Wed Dec 07, 1994 S.WINICK at 07:46 EST David, >> ....I want to get some things for my new machine... >> First, a RAM board. I want to take the FALCON to its full RAM. >> What boards are out there and who has them? GEnie address? >> >> I need a source for the SCSI II cables. We have both of the above items in stock. Drop me Email if you'd like pricing and ordering information. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 10 Wed Dec 07, 1994 PG.MUSIC [PG-Kevin!] at 09:19 EST Sheldon, Any Falcon acceleration products in stock yet? :) --Kevin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 11 Wed Dec 07, 1994 ICDINC [Tom] at 16:19 EST Roy, 6.5.5 is the current version. - TOM - ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 12 Wed Dec 07, 1994 K.OLSON10 [KenO.] at 18:23 EST Hi! Whenever I try to use DBman on my falcon the text comes up yellow and very hard to read. The only way I have found to get around this is to change to 2 colors. I normaly run with 16 colors. Why does this happen and is there a solution? It would be nice if I could run DBman without the extra steps involved in switching to 2 colors. As far as I can figure DBman has no way to set the colors. KenO. :) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 13 Wed Dec 07, 1994 S.WINICK at 20:38 EST Kevin, >> Any Falcon acceleration products in stock yet? :) No, we haven't stocked any Falcon acceleration products yet. Is there a particular one you're interested in? Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 14 Wed Dec 07, 1994 R.IRBY3 [Roy] at 22:06 EST David, You can try ATY Computer at 510-482-3775. They're located in Oakland, I believe. Just purchased a 16 meg Falcon memory board from them. It's the type that has just 1 16 meg simm. It had to be the most painless memory upgrade I've ever done. Just remove the top of the case, swing the keyboard aside, remove the shielding and swap the memory boards. That's it. I've been using it for a cupla weeks now and it's really solid. No bugs or glitches. And boy is it nice to have all that elbow room in Geneva! Regarding the Falcon accelerators... I would like to see ANY info on any of the boards available. I have heard that the big problem with ones such as the Speed Resolution Card is that the DSP will not function correctly when running in an accelerated mode. So I suppose all those nifty hard disk recording/fx programs might freak out. But, a 40mhz CPU for 250 bucks is tempting anyway. Supposedly the Barracuda 040 upgrade will work fine in conjunction with the DSP functions, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure of how much it will cost when finished. Maybe someone from Wiztronics will see this an post some current specs. (hint hint) :) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 15 Wed Dec 07, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 19:56 PST Sheldon, If it's GEnie legal, please post prices, I'm sure there's interest. Of course, if it's bad manners, it's up to you, but I sure wouldn't be offended, and _I_ sell new Atari STuff! David, Mid-Cities in Bellflower (don't have the number, you'd have to dial directory assistance, they're area code 310), and The Computer Network in Glendale (again, no number, I think area code 213). Roy, From the info from CAF, Wizztronics is having some trouble getting the board out, though their FalconRack product is out, I understand. I think I could live without the DSP at 40/20 Mhz! The DSP probably works fine when the motherboard is set to 16 and the CPU/FPU are set to 32. Sheldon (again), We _want_ the Speed Resolution Card! 8^) Will post more info soon (I hope), Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 16 Wed Dec 07, 1994 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 20:30 PST David <>< I over bought SCSI II cables when I was first setting up my falcon. I have been stuck with this $35.00 beauty ever since. If you want it its yours for $25.00 GOT plus postage. Send me e-mail. (:{ Grouch. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 17 Thu Dec 08, 1994 PG.MUSIC [PG-Kevin!] at 01:00 EST Sheldon, I'm interested in the Speed Resolution and the Barracuda040. After all... it is Christmas season. :) That means I'll be making my annual "longer" schlep up to NC to visit the family. :) Keith & I have been banging around ideas on upping the '030 cpu clock w/ a simple hack... but so far... the '030 didn't care to just have the 32MHz clock injected into it. Hmm... I may need some extra logic to clean up the clock signal (sync start times w/ the 16MHz clock)... drat... it *looked* like a very simple mod... I want SPEEEEEEEEED from my Falcon! :) --Kevin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 18 Thu Dec 08, 1994 S.WINICK at 07:30 EST Dan, >> If it's GEnie legal, please post prices..... I never post new product pricing in the public R/T. There are several quality Atari dealers who are active here on GEnie. Anyone needing pricing and ordering information can easily contact the Atari dealer of their choice in Email. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 19 Thu Dec 08, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 08:38 EST Bob Semaan, I thought the Falcon had more than one serial port? I need to brush up on my Falconology. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 20 Thu Dec 08, 1994 PG.MUSIC [PG-Kevin!] at 09:02 EST Al, The Falcon has an RS232 port and a LAN port. Both are serial. :) We won't count the DSP port as yet another serial port (for simplicity's sake ). --Kevin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 21 Thu Dec 08, 1994 MUSE [Tomas] at 13:09 PST Kevin, Technically, the Midi port is serial, too. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 22 Thu Dec 08, 1994 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 18:57 CST Al, You need to get a Falcon. The Lan and Midi ports are serial, so it looks like the Falcon has 3. Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 23 Thu Dec 08, 1994 B.SEMAAN [Binary Sound] at 19:45 CST Kevin, Since the original query was concerning RS-232 ports suitable for a serial mouse and standard modem on the Falcon, I feel the correct answer is indeed that there is only 1 (standard) serial port. Bob ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 24 Fri Dec 09, 1994 R.IRBY3 [Roy] at 01:47 EST Dan P. Yeah, I got the specs on the Falcon Rack from Wizztronics a cupla weeks ago. It sounds really nice. Mouse, Jstick, Kboard jacks up front along with mic and headphone jacks. All other ports are OEM on the rear of the box except the midi and cart ports, which are also moved to the rear. Includes Deka 2 built-in, 200+watt power supply, room for front mounted floppy plus 1 5.25 and 1 3.5" drive bay. Also room for the Falcon internal IDE. And some kind of expansion slot for an upcoming frame grabber type upgrade. The only thing holding me back is the cost. MSRP is $525. I definitely think the Speed Resolution Card would come first. So, does anyone know if a third party mouse for the current Macintosh can be rewired to work on the Falcon/ST? I know that a PC Bus mouse can, but the mouse I want to hack is only available in PC Serial or MAC. Roy ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 25 Fri Dec 09, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 08:21 EST Thanks, Kevin. That makes one modem port. :-) Tomas, I wonder if anyone ever actually used the MIDI port for modem-to-phone-to- modem-to-MIDI communications? I know it works fine with STalker and Flash II for direct transfers. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 26 Fri Dec 09, 1994 PG.MUSIC [PG-Kevin!] at 10:17 EST Al, Actually that's not true. The LAN port is the same port as the Apple MAcintosh modem/printer ports. I have a cheap mac cable that lets me connect my RS232 modem to the LAN port. (but these cables at any CompUSA). I also use the Falcon LAN port with my Mac midi interfaces. :) So effectively... you have TWO modem ports on the Falcon. It really isn't that difficult to do. ;) --Kevin PS. Al, yes, there is a program to send midi data out the RS232 port to another computer and then out the other's midi port. Both ways. It's a simple little thingy. Only problem is that unless you're running at 28Kbaud you won't even come close to full midi bandwidth. :) Even that is a little shy... Midi is just like any other serial comm device. :) It's\ just that midi has a "sort of" network protocol & "sort of" works fine for anything ya want. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 27 Fri Dec 09, 1994 MUSE [Tomas] at 09:37 PST Al, >I wonder if anyone ever actually used the MIDI port for >modem-to-phone-to-modem-to-MIDI communications? It's doubtful, isn't it? ===Tomas=== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 28 Fri Dec 09, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 12:55 EST Damon, Wanna give me a Falcon? I'd happily accept it. By the way you guys count serial ports, my TT has eight or nine. :-) Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 29 Fri Dec 09, 1994 K.OLSON10 [KenO.] at 18:13 EST Hi! I have Audio CD Master by It's All Relative. I can't seem to get it to play anything. My CD comes on when I boot with ExtenDOS. when I call up Audio CD Master all I can get it to do is eject the CD no tracks will play. I got the upgrade 3.3 which is supposed to work with the Toshiba CD rom drive. I tried with the system bare except for the recomended fixe's but still no cigar. The CD drive works fine with data CD's. I have my audio system connected to the jacks at the back of the CD - nothing. KenO. :) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 30 Fri Dec 09, 1994 T.STARACE1 at 20:01 EST Hi, Can someone tell me how to access the internal clocks battery. Mine must be going dead. My Falcon's clock has started to run slow, It's about 2 years old. Thanks Thomas ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 31 Sat Dec 10, 1994 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 02:22 CST Al, Sorry, I'm too poor and I need a second one for me. And a TT. (I'm a collector) Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 32 Sat Dec 10, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 10:46 PST Ken, You don't say which Toshiba you have. I have the 3201 and it's working _great_ with the fix, even better than CD Listen. You might try setting your EXTENDOS.CNF to go get the info on the drive, as the book delineates on page 23. Use device id 12. Good luck,\ Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 33 Sat Dec 10, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 16:37 EST Thanks, Kevin. Since the TT has a LAN port, too, can I assume that it works the same way? al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 34 Sun Dec 11, 1994 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 20:23 CST D.FARRINGTON, I just got a hold of an extra Falcon RAM Board. I will be willing to sell it to you. LEave me E-Mail if you are interested. All, TOAD sells a product from Germany that is called Falcon Power-up or something. IT basically doubles the clock speed and provides about a 40% speed increase (according to GEMBENCH). IT costs $89 and requires soldering. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 35 Mon Dec 12, 1994 K.OLSON10 [KenO.] at 06:51 EST Hi! Dan - My CD is a TXM4101L1. None of the books I have go up to page 23. ExtenDOS, Audio CD Master or Toshiba. Are you telling me that you modified the CNF file that came with ExtenDOS? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 37 Mon Dec 12, 1994 PG.MUSIC [PG-Kevin!] at 15:48 EST Al, I'm pretty sure the Xbios/Bios (whichever) supports the TT LAN port similarly to the support in the Falcon. :) Hey... nobody mentioned the IKBD serial port. --Kevin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 38 Mon Dec 12, 1994 R.WELTER2 at 19:57 EST Hi everyone, I seem to be in the mood tonight, so I'll ask all my questions now. What in the Falcons OS takes up 2Meg of memory? That's one heck of an OS to bigger than all the memory in my 1040 STe/2 meg! Rich ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 39 Mon Dec 12, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 20:46 PST Yeah, what's up with that missing 2 meg, anyhow? I won't complain if my video ram comes out of it, leaving me 14 megs free, but if not... Can antbody shed some light? Ken, Ahhh. I have ExtenDOS _Pro_., so maybe you don't have the options. In my book, the 4101 is listed as id 10, so your D= would read D=10. And yes, you use a text editor to change EXTENDOS.CNF (not your original!) to read appropriately. BTW, Roger Burrows is on-line in the Exdendos area, Topic 2, Cat 30. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 40 Wed Dec 14, 1994 P.FLETCHER4 at 19:44 EST Nathan DMC, Hi. Is it safe to assume that the DMC portion of your name implies DMC the software co? If so, I have a question. I just got my Dec. issue of ST Format and saw that Calamus SL has been reduce to 199.00 Pounds in Britain. I saw a comapny called Gasteiner who was selling it for 175.00 Pounds and couldn't help but wonder if the US has or will be seeing a similar price reduction. I figured that those prices and an approximate exchange of $1.50 per Pound that Calamus would run between $250- $300 bucks here in the States. I guess my main question to you is are these prices likely here? If not, will it be legal for me to buy the program in England and have it shipped here. And will the English version work on my Falcon? BTW, Gasteiner is selling a 1 meg, no HD Falcon for 255 Pounds. WOW! Thats less the $400 U.S. !!!!!! I wish the British Falcon would work here, at those prices I'd buy a couple more. Thanks for the help, assuming that my question was directed correctly! Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 41 Wed Dec 14, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 18:44 PST Pete, What makes you think the UK Falcons wouldn't work here? I thought the TOS had all the country character sets, and all I think you'd need is a power adaptor for it. Of course, once you ship the machine here, and buy an adaptor, you'd be getting close to US pricing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. If you bought Calamus from the UK, you'd have to call there for support! 8^) Also, your Falcon warranty would be from Atari UK. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 42 Wed Dec 14, 1994 C.LABELLE [Tintin] at 22:29 EST Dan, I heard the Falcon has an universal power supply. So you apparently don't need an adaptor. You lose out on the video output: you will not be able to output to TV or VCR. Also the physical keyboard layout is slightly different. I don't know the above for sure, but that's what I heard before. Tintin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 43 Wed Dec 14, 1994 ICDINC [Tom] at 23:15 EST Early Falcons had a universal power supply. the later ones don't. Gasteiner are closeout experts. Check the version number before buying anything there. - TOM - ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 44 Wed Dec 14, 1994 P.FLETCHER4 at 23:46 EST Ah, well its a bit easier for me to "import" things because I have many relatives in the UK. I just send them money drawn on Nat West. (a UK based bank for the proper amount) And I get whatever I want. I guess I'd have to call to find out what version of SL was cut to the '199.... discounted to 175.00 Pound price. However, any version is better than the version I have now........ none. :) Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 45 Fri Dec 16, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 06:43 PST All, Forget the Speed Res card. We want the Skunk 36 (also from Germany). It has an 18 MHz motherboard clock with 36 MHz CPU clock, and takes both the FPU and DSP to _50_ MHz. I hear it also offers a Fast-RAM option. And get this, $250, including the Fast-RAM option (but no RAM)! Drool! I've heard that only a few Falcon could actually take advantage of the 20/40 MHz mode of the Speed Res card, anyhow. You catch that, Sheldon? I sure want one. Will try to get more info. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 46 Fri Dec 16, 1994 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 12:32 EST Dan, That sounds very interesting. Keep us posted. -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 47 Fri Dec 16, 1994 C.LABELLE [Tintin] at 22:41 EST Dan, Please, please get more info! Tintin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 48 Fri Dec 16, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 20:37 PST Hmmm, maybe I should think about importing... Dan C'mon, Sheldon, this could be hot! ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 49 Sat Dec 17, 1994 N.FRAGA [RECOIL] at 07:21 CST I'm looking for the video CPX for the Falcon computers,where I change the video settings. I seen it in either ST Format or ST Review. Is it available here in GEnie? Norm. PS Also is there a bug with Falcon (some of them) that won't output in Stereo? Mine doesn't seem to be stereo, is there any simle oops, simple test that I can do? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 50 Sat Dec 17, 1994 S.WINICK at 08:43 EST Dan, We don't sell any speed enhancement product before its time! ;-) Seriously, keep in mind that most hardware hacks have negatives that never get mentioned until they make it into the marketplace. Incompatibilities of some type or other are almost a definite for any product that affects a systems timing. Compounding matters is that Atari didn't design the Falcon, in its archaic 1040-style case, with any serious future upgrading in mind. Most hardware hacks for Atari systems have historically proven to be of questionable long term value. Its probably wise to give a new product of this type time to prove itself before getting too excited over the new product hype that circulates, especially when installation involves major hardware modifications that can affect the usability of your computer system. The Falcon030 is an excellent performer in its own right, as were nearly all Atari products over the years. Any computer should be purchased for what is was designed to do and the type of performance it was designed to be capable of providing. There comes a time in any systems lifetime, however, when you must decide when it can no longer meet you needs. When that time comes, it is generally a good idea to carefully consider whether the short term benefits of hardware hacking (upgrading) will truly outweight the long term benefits of moving on to a newer, more technologically advanced system. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 51 Sat Dec 17, 1994 D.TROXELL2 [FT Dave] at 12:12 EST S.WINICK >>There comes a time in any systems lifetime, however, when you must decide when it can no longer meet you needs. When that time comes, it is generally a good idea to carefully consider whether the short term benefits of hardware hacking (upgrading) will truly outweight the long term benefits of moving on to a newer, more technologically advanced system. Sheldon, Since Atari is not currently making any more technologically advanced systems, what are you suggesting? FT Dave ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 52 Sat Dec 17, 1994 J.BRENNER1 [See Flat] at 13:20 EST Ft Dave, the most interesting thing that I find about the Atari situation is the following. There was a time, when they were a "computer company" that dealers could not get any stock. People were screaming for STes, Falcons and TTs. Now that Atari has publicaly stated that they are out of the computer business, dealers get shipments on a regular basis of all three of the mentioned above. Either Atari has a lot of stock it needs to get rid of or they have elves in a back room and aren't telling anyone for fear it might hurt there image as a "Game Machine Company" Wouldn't that be a hoot. :-) John B. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 53 Sat Dec 17, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 20:55 PST Norm, Get the latest XCONTROL from the GEnie library, I believe it's version 1.31. It has all the Falcon CPX's as released by Atari. BTW, where's your Language disk? Sheldon, Just get, okay? Just kidding. Bu-ut, someone's gotta test it here, and three of us want them here on GEnie, and two of my friends here in San Diego, too, so take a chance, check it out. I have heard there is some first-hand reports on the Internet (out of Germany), and they've been raves. The Skunk is designed for 100% switch-back, I believe. And, I can't afford an IBM that will do what the Falcon does, you know what DSP boards for the clones cost, and who needs a buggy processor and poor DSP software support? Give me _more_, Scotty. She's breakin' up, Cap'n! Warp 68030/68882/56002(?)! Just gotta go faster! Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 54 Mon Dec 19, 1994 I.POSSEHL1 at 01:48 CST I think I may have a used Falcon 030 with the Right Channel Audio defect. I assume that this has been discussed here sometime in the past and have been pouring through the archives but haven't found much on it yet. Can anyone point me in the right direction? ==== || ver ==== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 55 Thu Dec 22, 1994 D.TROXELL2 [FT Dave] at 23:32 EST J.BRENNER1 [See Flat] >> Now that Atari has publicaly stated that they are out of the computer business, dealers get shipments on a regular basis of all three of the John, I have enjoyed using the Atari computer through the years, and was sad to see Atari get out of the full time business of developing new computers, but eventually that stock is going to run out. While I appreciate the fact that some made their living from Ataris, and are hurting from the change of events, I'd like to hear from the ATari MIDI experts - which way should former Atari MIDI users go - to the MAC which is well established in the MIDI area or to the IBM (where prices keep getting better and better, and more major software companies are porting their software to Windows). Do the experts really believe I can be more cost effective on the Falcon platform, or am I just buying some time until the MIDI people bypass the Atari altogether. Is the rack mount version of the Falcon a last ditch attempt at saving some of the MIDI market? Are any major MIDI software developers commited to support for the Rack Mount? FT Dave ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 56 Fri Dec 23, 1994 REALM [Joey] at 01:31 EST FT Dave, I thought Atari said they would continue to produce the Falcon just for the Music market? I'd be more worried about the software then the machine. The computer itself probably has a good number of years left in it. If your MIDI software is kept up to date then your in pretty decent shape. Basically if your computer does what you need then your covered. Besides, It's really not a good time to change machines with the Power PC in a wish- washy state. The Pentium can't do math and the current clone OS's are kind of mess. Supposedly over the next 6 or so months most of that should get sorted out and give you a better view of whats to come. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 57 Fri Dec 23, 1994 B.SEMAAN [Binary Sound] at 02:28 CST J.Brenner, We (Binary Sounds) are still developing Midi and music software and hardware for the Atari, especially the Falcon. In fact, Stefan is working again on MidiTrack ST for the first time in over a year. I'm working on EZ-Score and there are a couple of other Falcon-only projects in the works here. With Wizztronics and C-Lab both working on new TOS compatibles, it would seem that what Atari does or does not do in the future may be irrelavent. Based on my own experience as well as conversations with other Midi programmers, the Atari is still a better choice than the Intel machines for midi work. The Mac is a viable alternative, but does not have the price/performance ratio that the Atari offers. And its too soon to tell about the PowerPC, as low level midi support is not yet adequate. Wizztronics appears to be very close to having something on the market and if they get anything out there at all, it'll be as much or more than we've seen from Atari, itself in years. What's more, Wizztronics seems to be interested in the non-midi market as well. The bottom line is I think jumping ship right now would be premature. But if you must, if you've got the bucks, the Mac will do the job, but I think you'll be sorely disappointed, qualitywise, if you switch to Intel-based PC. Bob ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 58 Fri Dec 23, 1994 J.BRENNER1 [See Flat] at 18:57 EST Bob, I have no idea why you directed post #57 at me. I have three Ataris and EditTrack Platinum. I'm not jumping out of anything. If I do eventually change platforms for my Graphics needs, I will always keep an Atari to do the Midi. I dont' think anything I've posted here implied otherwise. John B. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 59 Fri Dec 23, 1994 B.SEMAAN [Binary Sound] at 23:15 CST Flat, My mistake. I obviously misunderstood. Sorry, Bob ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 60 Sat Dec 24, 1994 REALM [Joey] at 01:39 EST Bob, I think you've got the right post, just the wrong guy.:-) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 61 Sat Dec 24, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 15:52 EST Flat ain't a guy who jumps ships, that's for sure. He's a big supporter of his favorite platform. And anybody who has three Ataris deserves recognition. (Can't match my *four* yet, though, John B.!) :-) Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 62 Sat Dec 24, 1994 J.BRENNER1 [See Flat] at 17:46 EST Al, Well, I dont' know, I sold a 1 meg 520 to a friend of mine to give to his son at Christmas, and I dont' count the Portfolio as being an Atari Computer. It doesnt' do TOS, and it was built by someone esle. :-) John B. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 63 Sun Dec 25, 1994 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 00:40 CST Al, Oh yea? Well I've got five! :-) Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 64 Sun Dec 25, 1994 D.PHILLIPS25 at 09:20 PST Yeah, well I've got about 7, but that's not fair, I resell them 8^)! Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 65 Sun Dec 25, 1994 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 16:58 EST John, The Port is an Atari. Sanyo built my TT; does that make it NOT an Atari? :-) Damon, Sheesh! I just got beat! Dan, No, you can't compete. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 66 Tue Dec 27, 1994 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 00:39 CST Al, I love to multitask. Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 67 Tue Dec 27, 1994 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 02:13 PST Damon, >I love to multitask. You mean using the "parallel processor" method? Two or more Atari's running side by side...?! FZ ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 68 Tue Dec 27, 1994 J.BLOCKUS [JACKIE] at 18:33 PST David, >>I know Computer Direct, Toad, and Computer Studio. Anybody on the >>west coast? A.YU (GE-mail) is ATY Computer in Oakland, CA. May have what you want or be able to get it. Or give him a call, 510-482-3775, Voice and Fax. Sheldon, >>There are several quality Atari dealers who are active here on >>GEnie....can esily contact the Atari dealer of their choice in >>Email. You have great "computer/BBS" manners. I applaud you :-) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 69 Wed Dec 28, 1994 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 07:57 CST Frank, > You mean using the "parallel processor" method? Two or more Atari's running >side by side...?! I mean by all methods. I use the parallel processor method, the Geneva method, and if perchance I can keep them all occupied, I'll use the bathroom and get a cup of coffee too! :-) Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 70 Fri Dec 30, 1994 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 00:55 PST Hello All! I would like information in regards to an assembly language that will take full advantage of the Falcon capablities. Matter of fact, a complete list of available programing languages ranging from 'A'ssembly to 'P'ascal would greatly be appreiated as well. The only programing language that I have is GFA Basic, which by the way is an excellent program... but, it is limited as probley most of you that have programed with it know. Rodney ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 71 Fri Dec 30, 1994 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 10:17 EST Rodney, Pascal - Pure Pascal is the most up to date for the Atari machines and is compatible with Turbo Pascal 7.0. Available through Gribnif. The Docs and help files are in German but, between books for Turbo Pascal 7.0, the Compendium and other Atari sources, you can figure most of it out. I have the Turbo Pascal developement system so that helped a lot. 10 different books. Lattice C & Pure C is about the only C packages still being updated (commercial C languages that is). Lattice C is in English. Pure's Help files have been translated by someone. Lattice C is from HiSoft (US distribution through O.R.A.) and Pure C is through Gribnif. Assembly - DevPac ST/TT is still being updated and is the only one that I know of off hand that is. It is from HiSoft and distributed through O.R.A. Basic - HiSoft Basic is still being updated and has just had a new version done not too long ago. It includes the new calls. It is done by HiSoft and distributed through O.R.A. I would say the most updated in oder is... 1) Lattice C & Pure C 2) Devpac (Assembly) 3) HiSoft Basic 4) Pure Pascal HighSpeed Pascal is decent but is not being updated. Someone correct me if any of the above is wrong. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 72 Fri Dec 30, 1994 P.FLETCHER4 at 16:36 EST 4 atari's , don't make me laugh. Have a Falcon, 2 ST's, a Portfolio, 2 Lynx's, a 65xe, a 400, and a Jaguar. Maybe I ought to get a life. Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 73 Sun Jan 01, 1995 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 11:13 EST Rodney, Gribnif's Pure C development package includes an assembler and C source level debugger. John has made English Help on-line help files for Pure C development which makes it much more productive. John can be found in the Pure C topic ( CAT #17, topic #16). -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 74 Tue Jan 03, 1995 N.FRAGA [RECOIL] at 19:56 CST I have a couple of questions on adding a CD-Drive to my F030. First, can I use the NEC 2V (external), its a double speed drive. I want to be able to play music cds, load those Kodak pictures, and access those CD's that have the 500 fonts, Qwik forms, clip arts, and those Atari specific CD. Will the 2V be sufficient?????? Norm. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 75 Tue Jan 03, 1995 SAM-RAPP [Sam_030] at 23:25 CST Arghh.... My Falcon is wounded! My Falcon refuses to acknowelege that a VGA monitor is connected. If you put in the VGA adaptor block, it boots to a ST/TV resolution! Is there a program that I can stick in my AUTO folder to force VGA mode? Any advice on what may be the cause/cure for this? gosh... this 12" SC1224 sure is little! And flickery. Yech! HELP ME!!!!!! =============> Sam_030 ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 76 Tue Jan 03, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 22:15 PST Sam, You're probably looking for a short term solution, but the best bet is to make your own monitor switcher for VGA, RGB, composite, and RF all in one, I'll try to get some specs together in the not-too-distant future and post them. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 77 Wed Jan 04, 1995 C.LABELLE [Tintin] at 23:04 EST Sam_030, That's strange. What happens when you try to change the rez from the desktop? It's a long shot, but you may want to delete your NEWDESK.INF (or rename it). Tintin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 78 Wed Jan 04, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 22:18 PST Sam_030, Yes, try what Tintin suggested...delete the Newdesk.Inf file, or save it somewhere if you need it and then delete the one on the root of Drive C. If that doesn't work, have you run any programs that change the NVRAM settings lately? Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 79 Thu Jan 05, 1995 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 11:30 EST Dan, You should also upload them to the library too. -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 80 Fri Jan 06, 1995 R.BURROWS1 [Roger@Anodyn] at 00:25 EST Norm, I'm not familiar with the 2V, but if it's a double-speed drive, it ought to be plenty fast enough. A good place to get other opinions would be CAT 4 TOP 19 or CAT 2 TOP 30. Roger ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 81 Thu Jan 05, 1995 SAM-RAPP [Sam_030] at 23:58 CST I think it has to be some sorta hardware problem. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but normally, if you leave your computer on, and pull out the VGA adaptor, and plug in the SC1224 adaptor, it causes a system reboot. One Item of note: I have broken pin 11 on my monitor jack from switching plugs so often, but that was several months back, and never affected performance. I took my Falcon apart to look and see if there was anything obvious wrong. Man, that is one ugly motherboard. The bottom side looks to be hand soldered! Some of the surface mount capacitors are almost sideways with HUGE lumps of solder holding them on the board. There is heat damage and flux everywhere. Yuck. Also, my TOS chip is labeled as '4.02'. The '02' is scribbled out and '04' is penciled in. The computer actually has '4.02'. Maybe I can get Atari to swap me for a new one, and they can show mine to the folks a quality control! Yeah! Thats the ticket! ============> Sam_030 ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 82 Fri Jan 06, 1995 P.FLETCHER4 [Pete] at 18:31 EST Sam_030, I think you have a better chance of seeing God. And I'm an atheist. Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 83 Sun Jan 08, 1995 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 11:43 PST Wayne, Wow! Thanks for the information on availablity of languages for the Falcon! I'll have to ask Current Notes and the likes for reviews on the latest available programming languages to get me set in what to purchase now! Again, thanks for the information! --- Albert, I'll turn that topic on (Pure C, CAT #17, topic #16) and see what John says. Thanks. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 84 Sun Jan 08, 1995 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 19:30 EST Rodney, You're welcome. -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 85 Thu Jan 19, 1995 W.MARTZ1 [Lucky Man] at 21:16 EST Hi Folks! Can anyone here suggest a good printer spooler to use with my Falcon? I use Atari Works, Calumus and Cuebase score. I've never used a print spooler before, so any advice on how to set them up or use them would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 86 Mon Jan 30, 1995 V.VALENTI at 14:47 PST Hello, I just got NVDI 3.01, and I am having some problems. I can't seem to change to any True Color resolutions in either VGA or RGB, 40 or 80 col. I have Control Panal and in the auto folder nothing but NVDI.. Any suggestions.... ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 87 Tue Jan 31, 1995 V.VALENTI at 08:04 PST Also, I have noticed that in the 256 color mode, the blitter is disabled.. Gembench reports 5%-blitting with NVDI & 18%-blitting without NVDI Everything else is faster with NVDI... Why would the blitter turn off in 256? Vince ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 88 Wed Feb 01, 1995 R.KING53 [Ron] at 18:36 EST Is a VGA monitor necessary to use a Falcon or can the Atari color & b&w monitors be used for most everything? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 89 Wed Feb 01, 1995 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 19:21 CST Ron, You don't need a VGA monitor for the Falcon. There are a couple of programs that require VGA, but not many. Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 90 Wed Feb 01, 1995 EXPLORER.1 [] Ron [] at 22:22 EST Ron, Atari color and B&W monitors work fine on the Falcon with the proper adaptor. A VGA monitor does give you higher resolution modes. Ron @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 91 Wed Feb 01, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 21:16 PST Ron, SC1224 monitors work, but the flicker'll drive you crazy. The SM124 should be fine. Vince, I'm running NVDI 3, but I haven't had any problems with True Color. I'll check again and get back to you if I do. I assume you're not using over- scan... Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 92 Thu Feb 02, 1995 V.VALENTI at 09:20 PST Dan, No I am not using over-scan. Do you have ver 3.00 or 3.01, maybe they introduced a bug with 3.01? And do you know if the 256 color mode is supposed to operate without the blitter? Everything else works wonderful, including Speedo. Vince ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 93 Thu Feb 02, 1995 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 18:10 CST Ron, The highest rez I've gotten on a VGA was 640x480x256. With my 1224 I can set it to 768x480xtruecolor. Damon PS I've gotten used to the flicker. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 94 Thu Feb 02, 1995 R.KING53 [Ron] at 22:16 EST Thanks for all the replies on my SC1224 question. Next question, why does this monitor "flicker" with a Falcon? I have a nearly new SC1224 (6 months old) and if I do get a Falcon it would be nice to not have to buy yet another (I have an SM14 also) monitor. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 95 Thu Feb 02, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 22:17 EST Hi all. I gotta question about the audio system... I hope someone can help. The Falc's audio out port makes an irritating buzz that interferes with my other electronic devices when it is lined in to an amplifier. I know why this is: The Falc does not have a line-level output, but a high level headphone output. But I want to record stuff onto a tape deck - - like digital recordings and MOD files and all the good stuff you're supposed to be able to do with the Falc that I can't do because it has a high-level headphone output and no low=level line output. (Well there's a sentence for you!) I was told that Raido Shack has an attenuator that can convert high to low output. Is this an internal or external thing? What I'd like to do is get into the Falc and make it so I have both types of output so I can do line out recording and headphones also. I want to make the line output two gold-plated RCA stereo- type jacks. Can anyone help me by any chance? I'd graciously appreciate it. The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 96 Thu Feb 02, 1995 R.HOEKSTRA1 [RandyH] at 21:32 CST Can anyone tell me if a serial port patch is needed for the Falcon and if so what do you recommend. I normally use Aladdin in 2 color mode (which works just fine), but when I run it in 16 color mode I find a lot of garbage (or missing text) in the messages I capture. Don't know if a serial port patch will fix it, but thought it might be worth a try. RandyH ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 97 Thu Feb 02, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 19:33 PST Damon, I don't see why you can't go beyond 640X480X256 on a VGA monitor. Maybe VGA isn't handled as well as SVGA (I get 800X600X256 with no trouble on my multisync, but that's cheating). 768X480 TC?! Amazing! I'll have to fiddle and see if I can get that. BTW, could it be that the VGA monitor you used was hardware limited, i.e. 640X480 and that's it? Hamlet, Glad you asked your question. I'd be interested in the answer(s) as well. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 98 Thu Feb 02, 1995 MUSE [Tomas] at 21:51 PST Hamlet, The attenuators I suggested are an external, 3-piece solution. It's cheap and effective. ===Tomas=== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 99 Thu Feb 02, 1995 P.MODOS [YIKES!] at 22:40 PST Hamlet: There is a mod that you can get done to your Falcon. I got mine done, and it works OK. Talk to an Atari tech in your area. YIKES! out. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 100 Fri Feb 03, 1995 J.BATES15 [JAB] at 02:03 EST Ron, The Falcon can use all the original ST monitors, though to get at all of the resolutions an older Multisyncing monitor like the NEC 3D is the best bet. The newer multisyncs don't sync down to the scan rate of a tv. There was a list of compatable monitors posted a while back. If you would like I will GEmail you a copy. Later, JAB ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 101 Fri Feb 03, 1995 I.FILLMORE1 [Rastor] at 06:44 EST There are different kinds of VGA monitors. Some can only go to 640x480, some can go to 800x600, some can go to 1024x768, and some can go so that 1280xWhatever. It's not the "hardware" per se, I think it has to do with the picture tube design. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 102 Fri Feb 03, 1995 D.ATKINSON3 [Damon] at 07:04 CST Dan, 768x480 is with overscan on. The loss of True color mode in rez's above 320x240 is why I lack interest in VGA. I've had a multisync hooked up to the Falcon and still didn't see any options for rez's higher than 640x480. Are you using Screenblaster or something? Randy, You should probably be using Fpatch2 and some other patch (bmapfix2, I think), or just use Fserial, or Hsmod. All of these are in the library. IMO, Fserial is the easiest. If you are talking about "realtime garbage" (garbage on the screen while you are connected to Genie), put your Falcon in Overscan mode. Damon ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 103 Fri Feb 03, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 05:17 PST Hamlet, >The Falc's audio out port makes an irritating buzz... It does? Mine doesn't seem to, although I bought it as a demo model from a music store, so maybe they had the fix done? I run the output of the Falcon directly into a small mixer before running it into the stereo, so I can control it easily, although as I said I've not noticed any buzzing sounds. ************* To those concerned, By the way, one of the neatest ways to get around the microphone input problem(when you want to input line level into the Falcons microphone level inputs) is to use another little mixer that Radio Shack sells. It's the smallest one they've got and is called a "4 channel stereo microphone mixer". Each of the 4 channels can have either a microphone or a line input...and here's the real beauty of it...the outputs are mike level! So you just hook it directly into the Falcon, no other attenuators or fixes neccessary. This allows either mike or line input with easy volume control over each channel, and it's quite inexpensive. It's also battery powered (no hum!), and seems to introduce no noticable noise into the signal. ***************** Dan, How do you get 800x600x256 without a Screenblaster? I thought the resolutions were controlled by the Falcon's hardware output, not by the monitor?? Are you saying that resolutions greater than 640x480 should be attainable with some SVGA monitors even without devices like BlowUp030 or Screenblaster? Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 104 Sat Feb 04, 1995 STEVE-J [Steve @ NMG] at 08:03 EST R.KING53 - The SC1224/SC1435 doesn't flicker because it's hooked up to a Falcon030, but only when using ANY monitor to display an interlaced resolution. The ST RGB monitors normally only handle up to 640x200 (plus overscan), which the Falcon030 will display without flickering, but by interlacing the screen you can have twice the vertical resolution (640x400). Normally, ST RGB will be displaying up to 640x200 and updating 60 times per second -- interlacing essentially displays 2 alternating 640x200 screens, each at 30 times per second. The flickering is caused by the screen alternations between 2 contrasting displays. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 105 Sat Feb 04, 1995 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 10:09 CST You can reduce the flicker substantially by turning the contrast all the way down, but then you'll need to lower the room lights, too... ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 106 Sun Feb 05, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 22:25 PST Re: Falcon overscan: First of all, there are software only versions of Blow-Up, and I believe Screenblaster as well. I get the same resolutions with my 4D with Blow-Up software alone as I do with the Multisync dongle. I did get 768X480 TC easily on my SC1224 using Blow-Up software, it'll go even further if you tweak the monitor border pots inside the case. Blow-Up's dongle just gives a 50 MHz signal for the Falcon to get high frequency output. Standard for the Falcon is 25 MHz, I believe, and overscan is 32 MHz. There are a bunch of PD/Shareware programs that will kick in Overscan, as well. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 107 Mon Feb 06, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 22:13 EST Dan Did you say something along the lines of "Tweak the border pots in the case?" Are there other pots in the case besides the ones on the back of the SC1224? I didn't know Blowup 030 worked on the SC1224. I'll have to try it. I gotta problem with the SC1224 while I'm on it. The screen simply will not center up and down no matter what I put the pots in the back on. They just stretch it out and center the right and left and so on. Any suggestions? The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 108 Mon Feb 06, 1995 L.CHANDLER [LINDA] at 22:05 PST Can someone please tell me how to get video into my Falcon and on to the screen? I've had this thing for ages but hardly ever use it since I got my TT. I want to take composite video out of my VCR and plug into that little jack on the back of the Falcon that says "Video". I don't really want to do anything with it yet, just use it as an extra TV in my work room. Is this possible? I know some of you do lots of interesting things with video, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Thanks. Linda. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 109 Tue Feb 07, 1995 STEVE-J [Steve @ NMG] at 04:01 EST J.WHETSTONE - There are often controls INSIDE monitors for adjusting things that USUALLY only need to be adjusted at the factory but CAN go 'out of whack' sometimes. L.CHANDLER - The Falcon030 doesn't accept external video without the addition of an expensive extra piece of hardware (that costs more than a second TV! ). The ports on the back of the Falcon030 are for video OUTPUT to either a TV (the RCA jack that looks like a composite video connector) or an RGB monitor. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 110 Tue Feb 07, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 21:57 EST Steve, Thanx. I'll have a look in the case to see if I can find anything to adjust the up down centering. Once a LOOOOONNNGG time ago I took the SC1224 apart when I had a regular ST and added a closed-circuit headphone jack. I don't remember seeing any pots, but then again I wasn't really looking for any. Well, thanx. The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 111 Tue Feb 07, 1995 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 19:32 PST Linda - look into cat 18, top 33. This is the fastest and perhaps easiest way to pipe video into a Falcon. Also check out the DTV topic. (:{ Grouch. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 112 Wed Feb 08, 1995 R.THUROW [Rich] at 03:46 CST Does anyone here run Logic Audio Falcon? Are you happy with what you have? I am considering getting a falcon to run it as i have a good price on one; I am aware Emagic USA will not be supporting it anymore. Thanks! ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 113 Wed Feb 08, 1995 D.ALFONSO1 [D.ALFONSO] at 19:45 EST Rich, As much as us Logic users would love LAF, I haven't heard from anyone who has gotten it working beyond playing back a couple tracks without any glitches. If anybody knows what it would take to get it running, please let me know. BTW, I've got a CAF/FDI package I could sell you . This DOES work! David ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 114 Fri Feb 10, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 20:40 PST Hamlet, You'll find numerous pots on the circuit boards inside the monitor case. FIRST OFF: Let me say that I don't advocate this bravado for anyone, high voltage in monitors (plugged in or not) can kill! Attempt at your own discre- tion. And don't use metal bladed/handled screwdrivers if you can help it. That said, I do a lot of tweaking of Moniterm monitors to get them to work on TTs, and I learned how to do it by simply turning pots and seeing what they do (though I now know which pots do what in the Moniterms). You can blow up your monitor/power supply, but if you go slow, there are usually no problems. A friend went into his SC1224 and simply cranked the borders in until his Blow(n) Up screen came into view. If you use BlowUp, you'll notice that you can get more pixels than show on the screen, they run off the edges. Just find the right adjustments and crank them in. Of course your icons will get even _harder_ to see, but you'll get the pixels. Oh, and I was mistaken, my friend has the SC1435, with is _much_ better suited to these kinds of experiments. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 115 Sat Feb 11, 1995 REALM [Joey] at 02:07 EST You can also wrap a metal screw driver with electrical tape all they way down to the tip... if you HAVE to use one. If you have some shrink wrap tubing or just plastic tubing it works well too. Just something to insulate the screw driver against shorting things together. The best methods to get somebody who knows what there doing or somebody with good insurance.:) ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 116 Sat Feb 11, 1995 R.KING53 [Ron] at 08:30 EST Does most graphics oriented software take advantage of the DSP or does the program have to be written specifically to use it? For instance does Pagestream speed up much with the Falcon compared to a 16 mhz Mega STe? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 117 Sat Feb 11, 1995 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 08:51 EST Metal tools will cause distortion and makes it harder to tell what you have. You have to keep taking them out and checking. Radio Shack has the plastic tools (REAL CHEAP) for this sort of thing. They are hex shaped. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 118 Sat Feb 11, 1995 C.LABELLE [Tintin] at 15:39 EST Ron, The software have to be written to use the DSP. Apex Media is a great example. Other applications available now include sound effects, graphics JPEG decompression and MPEG playback. There are in the library such applications; Winrec, MPEG_DSP and Brainstorm's JPEG come to mind. Tintin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 119 Sat Feb 11, 1995 J.BRENNER1 [See Flat] at 18:06 EST Ron, I'm just going to guess that a 16mhz 68030 should run faster than a 16mhz 68000. You would have to be running in the same resolution to really know. A 16mhz 68030 in 640x480x256 is probably slower than a 68000 running in 400x200x4. Software has to be written to use the DSP, if it isnt' it makes no difference that there is a DSP present or not. John B. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 120 Sat Feb 11, 1995 R.KING53 [Ron] at 22:07 EST Tintin & John - Thanks for the info ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 121 Sat Feb 11, 1995 DMJ [dmj] at 21:27 CST Ron, Things must be specifically written for the DSP to get any benefit from it. PageStream won't benefit from the DSP, although it might run a bit faster on the Falcon than the Mega STe because the Falcon has a 68030. (I haven't done side-by-side comparisons.) ~dmj ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 122 Sun Feb 12, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 09:39 PST I had a Mega 4 with T-25 and ISAC before I got my Falcon. The Falcon is about as fast in 800X608X16 as the T-25/ISAC was at 1024X768X2. For what that's worth. I find that it's close enough to say that the Falcon's as fast as a 25 MHz 68000. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 123 Sun Feb 12, 1995 R.HALL49 [DarkChyld] at 19:32 EST Hmmm...but try using the DSP chip on the Mega 4! :) I do know what you mean but the Falcon is -well- worth the upgrade! I've never once regretted purchasing mine...Later! /\ Dark>Too bad they decided not to support the Falcon. Why didn't they? >Bugs in the Falcon the programmers couldn't deal with, from what >I gather. Doesn't it make you wonder though why Steinberg-Jones never reported any of those so called "bugs"? Let's face it Cubase Audio which now handles 16 tracks of digital audio got the jump on Logic Audio. It is very probable that the E-Magic people realized that the dwindling Atari market would not support two full-scale digital audio programs for the Falcon, especially when theirs was released much later than Cubase, and could not handle as many tracks either. For E-Magic to cast all blame on the Falcon's so-called "bugs" without even telling us what these bugs were, was a low blow, and is just one further sign to us that E-Magic is soon to abandon the Atari platform altogether. That having been said, the latest version of Logic for the Atari is a fairly decent program which will be of use for many years to come, even if they stop developing it... Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 127 Tue Feb 14, 1995 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 07:14 CST Then again, we were trying to look at a demo of Logic Mac at work, and couldn't get it to recognize the dongle at all, so we blew 'em off for something else. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 128 Tue Feb 14, 1995 B.KOLINS1 [Brian] at 23:50 EST YIKES!, Just ported over X-OR to my Falcon and (except for one minor problem) it's working fine. Had to bump up the ms default to get everything talking to each other. I think the value was 39ms -- pushed it up to around 50ms. Works in 640x480 mono, and seems reasonably well-behaved under multitos. The only problem I encounter is sending a bank to a TX81Z, where I receive a midi buffer full error each time (but the data's been transmitted OK). --BK ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 129 Thu Feb 16, 1995 R.THUROW [Rich] at 01:31 CST Good point on Emagic Frank. They certainly worked around many a bug in the ST operating system with Notator SL--in fact they rewrote the OS for NSL. Emagic's recent statements make it even more obvious they are just making Logic work on the Ataris just so not to totally abandon the users that made them. Unfortunately for me, I have a small fortune invested in Emagic proprietary hardware and software for the atari. Brian--Thats a bug in the TX81z, not XoR. Its harmless. Yamaha will update the OS chip for free. Hehe, in 1986, when the TX debuted, many midi products were sold with half finished OSs ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 130 Thu Feb 16, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 21:35 PST Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't C-Lab Germany behind Notator? And aren't they now making Falcon clones? I don't think Atari is at fault here. After all, Steinberg got it to work. Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 131 Fri Feb 17, 1995 R.HALL49 [DarkChyld] at 02:02 EST Well, I've got a question! I had a user upload a press release from C-Lab that he got off of Compuserve...according to this text file C-Labs Falcon Mark II clone will have 14 megs of ram and an internal 500 meg hard drive and will be shown at ACE...ALSO the last paragraph in the text states that it will cost approximately $3000.00 here in the US...$3000???? Is this the kind of clones that we will be seeing? I for one find Wizztronics vision of a -super- Falcon clone much more appealing! (esp. the base price of around $700.00) I for one don't have the kind of cash lying around that I can pay $3000.00 for a 16mhz machine...(as much as I like my Falcon!) I can't see the Falcon Mark II appealing to anyone but dedicated audiophiles and not your average "Joe"...Maybe that was its intent all along but I was hoping (along with others I'm sure!) that if several companies started "cloning" the Falcon technology that we might actually see some growth. Ah well, I guess it was too much to expect. Later... %^) /\ Dark>I< was the only person in a 100 mi radius of Fargo with a Falcon. I have only done a little music with my Falcon, mostly midi. Yet maybe if you have only some basic questions, I may be able to help. And BTW, since I live in Barnesville, we are close enough that we could get together sometime. Are you familiar with Marguret's Music by the Holiday Mall. I beleive that Don in Keyboards is still there. He is quite familiar with Atari and music... They used to be the only Atari Dealer in the FM area. He might also be able to put you in touch with other Musicians who are still using their Ataris for Midi. I >would< be supprosed if there are many people using Falcons though. They Margurt's droped their computer line just after the STE's came out. Leave me E-mail, or check the Barnesville section of your phone book if you would like to call me. Iver Possehl Wow! Another Falcon owner in the FM area! How about that! ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 137 Sat Feb 25, 1995 J.BATES15 [JAB] at 03:54 EST R.goos, I hope this is a little late and someone else has answered your question something like this... In order to write things offline and post them to GEnie RTs you should use Aladdin v1.62. It is the official GEnie navigator. You can find it on page 1000, the ST Aladdin Round Table. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on a Falcon due to Atari changing the modem ports. But don't dispair, Keith Gerdes has written a shareware fix for Aladdin called LoadAladdin which is also available on page 1000. Aladdin is free (I think GEnie has waived the cost of the download) and Load Aladdin is necessary to make it work. Please pay Keith for his work, I would hate to lose another Atari developer. Later, JAB ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 138 Sat Feb 25, 1995 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 11:30 EST JAB, Aladdin DOES work in the Falcon. As you pointed out later, LoadAlad lets it work fine on the Falcon, so your statement is a little misleading to anyone who doesn't know the background. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 139 Sat Feb 25, 1995 B.WOOD18 at 13:22 EST Yes it does work o the Falcon. BUT, make sure when you run the Falcon load prgram for the fisrt time; you must choose the RTC/ flow control if you connecting at 9600.. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 140 Sat Feb 25, 1995 J.BATES15 [JAB] at 14:48 EST Al, Aladdin works fine on my Falcon without Load Aladdin, I just can't get it to connect with my modem! I guess that I should have said that the best method for offline reading and writing is the tip top combination of ST Aladdin and the feature packed patch program Load Aladdin, which gives access to the serial port on the Falcon, along with access to the higher speed ports on the TT and Mega STe. Is that better Al? I will be an advertising copy writer someday, really!! Later, JAB ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 141 Sat Feb 25, 1995 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 20:30 EST JAB, :)-) Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 142 Sat Feb 25, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 23:47 CST Ok, while we are talking modem ports that don't connect... When RSCARDS was having a free promo week a bit ago, I got the ST front end and tried to play it with my Falcon. But no go. I can dial and make a good connection with Aladdin/LoadAlad, or with STorm, or with AnsiTerm. I can play in TTY mode with any of these term programs. But when I run RSCARDS, no go. Anyone have an idea how or if we can get RSCARDS to run an a Falcon? Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 143 Sun Feb 26, 1995 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 08:57 EST Can you not use the MODEM CPX to switch over on the Falcon for these programs that only like Modem 1? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 144 Sun Feb 26, 1995 P.FLETCHER4 [Pete] at 18:18 EST I know this really isnt Atari related, but I just bought a Sony Multiscan 15sf for my Falcon. Man is the picture beautiful. Makes my Atari and IBM monitors look silly. Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 145 Sun Feb 26, 1995 D.ASHTON1 [Stargazer ] at 20:20 EST Pete, I also just bought a Sony Multiscan 15sf. The picture is fantastic. And the digital controls make using ScreenBlaster much easier. And the 3 year parts and labor warranty from Sony is great, too. Next you need a Sony CSS-B100, under the monitor speaker system for your Falcon. It has multipule inputs, mic input, headphone jack, VOLUME control, bass control and is ofcourse amplified. I put one right under my 15sf. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 146 Sun Feb 26, 1995 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 21:48 EST Pete, I've seen that monitor. It's very nice. We have 19-inchers in the same series at the office. al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 147 Sun Feb 26, 1995 R.THIEMAN [T-MAN] at 22:30 EST What does the 15sf cost?? I just purchased a bird with a Victor VM 240 super VGA and was real impressed after looking at SC1224s for the last 6 years. I don't have any specs on it but the price was right. My Falcon has 4 megs and the 84 meg Connor IDE HDD. I would like to upgrade the memory but have heard of a virtual memory manager that uses part of a hard drive as temporary RAM. How do they work??? Lots of questions later. Rich ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 148 Mon Feb 27, 1995 B.WOOD18 at 00:09 EST How much is this monitor and Speaker system ? Sounds great to me. I also have a Falcon and am useing an IBM 8514 SVGA with no sound at all..Thanks ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 149 Mon Feb 27, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 00:02 CST Wayne said: > Can you not use the MODEM CPX to switch over on the Falcon for > these programs that only like Modem 1? Not unless you know something I don't. As I understand the only modem port on a Falcon is Modem 7 (is that right folks?). When I open the MODEM CPX the Modem 1 selector is disabled (greyed out). Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 150 Mon Feb 27, 1995 C.THOMETZ [WILDMAN] at 04:03 PST Aloha, I've just picked up a Caviar 1210 hard drive (200 MB) from my new neighbor. It was in his 486 PC, formatted by DROSS 6.2, double spaced with WINDSMOOZE 3.1 installed. Anybody out there know whether I can replace my Falcons internal Connor 80MB with this unit? The unit label reads AT Compatible Intelligent Drive Drive Parameters: 989 cylinders 12 heads 35 spt 212.5 MB I'm pretty sure it's an IDE drive, but it doesn't fit the pin configuration on my internal port, as far as I can tell. 41 Pin Plug ..................... .......... .......... I'd appreciate any advice on this unit, cuz I could sure use the extra 120 meg storage for my boot drive. Mahalo Chris Thometz WILDMAN ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 151 Mon Feb 27, 1995 D.ASHTON1 [Stargazer ] at 18:41 EST B.WOOD18 I paid $429 (employee of a dealer), the typical price seems to be $450-$500. This is not a cheap monitor. But is has the features to make it worth the cost. The speaker system (CSS-B100) cost $100. Also not cheap. But has two video/audio inputs, mic feed though, headphone jack etc. This speaker system seems to be designed to be connected to a sound card on MS-DOS machines. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 152 Mon Feb 27, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 19:19 EST Hi guys. I'm saving up for a monitor (and, incidentally, a couple of other things right now) and I'd like to get a really good one. I guess what I really want is a monitor at least 15" that will display hi-res and true colour. I know this isn't possible without a graphic expansion, but will Screen blaster let you do this? Why do the digital controls on the Sony make it easier to use ScreenBlaster? I'm really interested in Ray Tracing and love POV (and have seen Pheonix pictures and love those too). So I need a good monitor and I really would like to get an accellerator to speed things up, say maybe a 32 mHz accellerator and an FPU. I heard of a 32 MHz clock speed booster that Toad has. Does anyone have this? How exactly does it work? Does it speed everything up or just some things? To use an FPU, does the program have to be written specifically to use it, or does every program use it? (for instance, would it speed up ST-Zip?) Which FPU should I get, and are all these things very hard to install? (yes, I do know how to take a computer apart and large boards with lotsa parts stuck to them don't scare me. I do have some basic computer knowledge.) Thanx to anyone who can help me. Believe me, I will have some more questions in the future as well! The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 153 Mon Feb 27, 1995 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 22:55 EST Wildman, There is in the library a product that allows one to use 3.5 inch IDE drives instead of the 2.5 inch that is in the library. Or rather information on the product. -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 154 Mon Feb 27, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 20:26 PST Chris, The Germans have an IDE host for ST's, and Cyrel has one for TT's, but I think that size limitations will prevent you from using a 3.5" drive with your machine. The existing drive is 2.5", really a notebook drive, though I would imagine that if you got an expansion box, i.e. tower case or Desktopper, you could just plug it right in. Also, most PC's allow the use of two IDE drives, I don't know if the Falcon will support two or not. Hamlet, Get the Motorola 68882-33 MHz. They cost about $25 new. All you have to do is pull a couple of shields in the F030 and fill the empty socket. Very easy (of course, you should use an anti-static strap, etc.). The 68882-33 is faster than the 16 MHz the machine runs at, but there are a couple of cool accelerators out of Germany that I'm looking at (see Cat 30, Top 12). Of course, if you've got the bucks and you want a _lot_ of speed, you can't go wrong with the Barracuda from Wizztronics, retail $950. Check out the accelerator topic I mentioned! BTW, the German accelerators can use the extra speed of the 68882 (just lost my train of thought!). ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 155 Mon Feb 27, 1995 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 22:43 PST I.POSSEHL1 mumbled something about... ............................. As I understand the only modem port on a Falcon is Modem 7 (is that right folks?). When I open the MODEM CPX the Modem 1 selector is disabled (greyed out). ---------- Yeap, the Modem port selector is greyed out on mine as well. Unless you use the FastSerial .96b Cpx... then for some odd reason you can select between modem1,2 and serial 2... weird... I haven't quite figured out this Fast_Ser.prg and and CPX out yet... someone please translate the whole documentation into english. Rodney ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 156 Tue Feb 28, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 01:42 PST Rich, There is a Virtual Memory Manager for Atari 030 machines (TT & Falcon). It's called "Outside" and is supposed to work quite well, although your hard drive must be formatted with the Atari Hard Drive Utils. Computer Direct has it on a real good sale for the next few months, $79 canadian dollars (regular $129). That's a very good price. Apparently it adds an extra meg of virtual RAM for each meg left on the system, and the rest of the (up to 512 megs!) virtual RAM gets counted as TT RAM. Like all Virtual RAM though, you must expect it to be quite a bit slower than real RAM, but it's certainly a less expensive route if you can't afford the real thing. Contact C.KROWCHUK1 in e- mail for further details. Hamlet, The reason digitally controlled monitors are nice with ScreenBlaster is that the different resolutions of ScreenBlaster require that you adjust the screen width and height practically each time you change sizes. With digital controls, you can store those settings for each size, so it is much more convenient. If you're going to do raytracing on your Falcon you absolutely will want the FPU since it can speed things up by about 14 times(I think). Programs have to be written to take advantage of the FPU, but raytracing programs generally are written that way because of the intensive math calculations involved. Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 157 Tue Feb 28, 1995 STEVE-J [Steve @ NMG] at 04:48 EST AEO.1 - Or he could just yell for B.AEIN to respond! ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 158 Tue Feb 28, 1995 D.ALFONSO1 [D.ALFONSO] at 18:20 EST HOWDY, I received a used Maxtor 25252AT IDE hard drive to upgrade my Falcon's 80MB Conner drive. When I tried to partition the drive, I got BAD SECTOR messages about halfway through the proceedure. Before I try to return or exchange the drive, I want to be sure I don't nee to do something to it (like disable parity, etc.) before it will work on the Falcon. I noticed a jumper on the Conner while I didn't see any on the Maxtor, which is why I wanted to be sure before I get an exchange. Any help would be appreciated. David ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 159 Tue Feb 28, 1995 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 18:55 EST Rodney, I was just wondering how the CPX worked on the Falcon. On the MSTE/TT, when you select another port, it does a BConMap call which reroutes all the RSCONF calls, etc. to the other port. This allows a little more compatibility but, at only 19200 baud max. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 160 Tue Feb 28, 1995 B.AEIN [B Man] at 22:24 EST Correct you are Albert! You can use 3.5 IDE's on your Falcon! D.Phillips25 (wheres the nickname???) 3.5 IDE's can be used on the Falcon if you have OverDRIVE IDE 3.5 hardware. This is a specail cable and case for the 3.5 that replaces your slow and crampped 65-84 meg 2.5 IDE. I am using a Segate 340 3.5 IDE, which is blazzingly fast, as I write this reply. The case is just a tad bigger than the drive and there are no seperate power supplys or mess set ups. If anyone is interested in using 3.5 IDE's on their F030, please leave a message here or Email me for more details. Thanks Bman ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 161 Tue Feb 28, 1995 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 20:47 PST Wayne, I'm not sure which CPX your talking about i.e. Modem.cpx or FSerial.cpx, so I'll try my best to explain both of them. With the Modem.cpx on the Falcon (The one that came with the Falcon, and XControl v1.31) The serial port button is not accessable... The highest baud rate I am able to obtain is 19200. With the FSerial.cpx, I have access to Modem 1, 2 and Serial 2. The baud rates go 50-153600 (to include 76800 [odd?]) on Modem 1 and 2, and on Serial 2 50-115200 (without the 76800 selection) Believe me, I haven't figured this thing out at all... but it works. I'm just use to knowing why and how it works... and this isn't helping me none. On all ports the INFO button reports Chiptype as an ESCC Am85C30. I'm right in the mist of trying to figure both the Falcon and Mega STE Modem ports... and finding out that it works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. It would seem in all occassions that it doesn't work, that somehow the port speed (DTE) has dropped and not talking to the modem as it should. I had thought using Fast Serial that setting the port speed say to 38.4 then saving the configuration, that it would stay there, no matter what. Rodney ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 162 Wed Mar 01, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 00:49 CST Rodney - Does FastSerial give you access to Modem port 1 on the Falcon? (I know it doesn't actually create a new port, but just convinces the operating system, or software that it is talking to port 1. Am I in the ballpark on this?) Have you tried it, does it seem to work? Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 163 Wed Mar 01, 1995 R.THIEMAN [T-MAN] at 22:20 EST Color Icons I used Icon Juggler to move a group of NeoDesk Icons to my Falcon. Saved the Icons to a new DESKICON.RSC file and moved the file to the root directory of Drive C. When I rebooted the color was gone. How do I color them. I am downloading a file called a color icon editor to see what it does. I'm also somewhat confused by the install icon option from the desktop. Are those icons built into the rom operating system? I sure can't find a file that matches the icons available via that option. Can they be saved to a file?? A new Falcon owner!!! Rich ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 164 Wed Mar 01, 1995 C.LABELLE [Tintin] at 23:48 EST T-man, Outside is the virtual memory manager you are talking about. But it slows your system down, even if you're not using more memory than your real RAM. I read somewhere that it reserves part of the RAM for itself, so instead of 4MB you get 2MB of real RAM and the rest if virtual. B Man, Yes I am interested to know more about using 3.5 IDEs. What is the cost of the OverDRIVE hardware kit? Hamlet, The SAMTRON SC528UX(L) is a nice economical monitor; I bought one after a long research, and enjoy it very much. Features are: price, 15", nice picture, digital controls, save setting button (a must), 50-100mHZ refresh rate. With Screenblaster you get hi-res in all the modes except true color where it expands to about 480 pixels wide. The FPU just speeds up programs that are designed to take advantage of it. Tintin ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 165 Thu Mar 02, 1995 B.SUSLOVIC [Brad] at 00:02 EST hi all, I'm looking at upgrading my F030s RAM to 14megs. A friend wants to sell me his 4meg SIMMs, but doesn't thier speed. This is important to me since I'm going to be uprading the processor also and don't want to get stuck with slow SIMMs. Can the speed be dirived from the actual print on the chips? brad s. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 166 Thu Mar 02, 1995 STEVE-J [Steve @ NMG] at 05:58 EST B.SUSLOVIC - Usually, yes. Look for a hyphen towards the end of the main numbers listed on the chips and note what number is after the hyphen (if there IS one!). For example, if there's a "-7" or "-70" then it's probably a 70ns SIMM. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 167 Thu Mar 02, 1995 P.FLETCHER4 [Pete] at 18:10 EST Does anyone know if an adapter is available to hook my Falcon up to a Composite monitor? Actually its going into a TV with composite inputs. I recently upgraded monitors and have given my SC1435 to my girlfriend. I would occasional like to use composite video to run certain programs and demos that need an Atari monitor or a TV. I know there is an RF modulator on my Falcon, but the quality sucks. If anyone knows where to get either an adapter or a cable please let me know. I tried Toad and they were clueless so I figured I'd ask here. Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 168 Thu Mar 02, 1995 B.SUSLOVIC [Brad] at 20:12 EST Thanks Steve, No hyphen, do you know where I might get a cross reference? brad s ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 169 Thu Mar 02, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 22:51 CST Hmmm... I wonder if you can plug a moniter master into the ST moniter adapter block (what-cha-ma-call-it)? Give me a little time, I've got both and will try it out for you, but not tonight... too tired. Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 170 Fri Mar 03, 1995 REALM [Joey] at 01:33 EST Pete, S.WINICK sells Falcon to Video Input cable. You can also use the Atari monitor adpator the same way you would a normal ST. It has composite out on one of the pins. A monitor should work. If you just need it occasionally try the RF box on the back. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 171 Fri Mar 03, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 02:29 PST Rich, For editing, creating, and importing color icons to your Deskicon.RSC, you should try Dr. Bob's Icon Draw program. The last version is ICDRW142. There are also a number of icon files available in the libraries for the Falcon. You should be able to restore your default color icons by recopying the original DESKICON.RSC from your Falcon "Language Disk"(you did get this with it, didn't you?). It would be better to take this original DESKICON.RSC and add to it using Dr. Bob's RSC expander(comes with the above mentioned icon editing program). Then you can just add in the monochrome icons you carried over from Neodesk(and color them). The "install icon" option from the desktop will usually display the contents of your DESKICON.RSC file. If for some reason it can't, there are some default monochrome icons built into the ROM that will get assigned to drives, folders, etc. These will then be displayed in the "install icon" dialogue. These default icons cannot be saved to a file from the ROM, but they should be included in the original DESKICON.RSC file(each "icon slot" in this file can have 3 different icons: 2 16-color icons(one for the selected state, one for the unselected state), and 1 monochrome icon(for non-color screen resolutions)). Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 172 Fri Mar 03, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 22:56 CST OK - I checked out the ST vidio adaptor in combination with a monitor master It does work. The quality of my composite vidio is not much better than an old color TV. Maybe it improves with the new models. I also notice that the "read me first" card with set up instructions says that there is a Composite Vidio Adaptor. Oh BTW when I used the Moniter Master there was no audio. Hmmm... must have to pull that seperately from the audio out? Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 173 Sat Mar 04, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 00:44 EST Pete, screen TV. It worked well. Some problems, though. Med and High res's are VERY hard to read. Naturally, I tried running some True Colour demos and watching them on the big screen. It really messed the vertical hold and it was impossible to watch. But if you need a display it works for simple things. The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 174 Fri Mar 03, 1995 MUSE [Tomas] at 22:40 PST Does the VideoKey work on the Falcon? ===Tomas=== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 175 Sat Mar 04, 1995 R.THIEMAN [T-MAN] at 01:42 EST Frank Thanks for the input. I got Dr Bob's Icon Draw Program last night and that finally helped me understand the color icons. Quite a difference from my NeoDesk days. I'm sending my shareware payment to Dr Bob this weekend. New Question??? I've had a couple of days to play with Outside. The virtual memory manager from Lexicor. The software came in a plain white envelope. The documentation was xeroxed poorly. I finally had to print the readme file from the program disk which was the same thing as the hard copy docs. Thus far I have tried to use an 8 meg block on my internal hard drive for the virtual memory. It gets set up all right but has bombed every program I have tried to run with it when the program tried to access the added memory. Right now I'm thinking of returning the software to TOAD and use the refund as a down payment on a 14 meg ram upgrade. Any other Falcon owners who have tried this program?? Rich ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 176 Fri Mar 03, 1995 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 23:49 PST I.POSSEHL1, From what I understand, Selecting Modem Port1 with the FastSerial CPX, just fools programs that don't utilize any other modem port (i.e. Modem Port2, which is basically what the Falcon has only.) I 'think' that's how I got Freezed Dried Term to work on the Falcon. I've set the port speed to 57.6k on modem port 1 and saved the configuration. I set Freezed Dried 2.20 to the max allowed which is 19.2k, but when connecting... it actually connected at 57.6k with a 14.4k carrier. (Am I making sense?) So basically your in the ball park in regards to it convincing the OS. We need someone to write up a good technical data spread on the Modem ports of all Atari computers, speically the Falcon and the other portss on the Mega STE and TT computers. Also need a 'clean' translation of HSMODEM06 and Fast Serial 0.96b Rodney ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 177 Sat Mar 04, 1995 P.FLETCHER4 [Pete] at 10:48 EST Thanks for the input guys! Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 178 Sat Mar 04, 1995 W.WILLIAMS4 [Walt] at 21:18 EST Iver... Regarding monitor master lack of sound, I found that the sound pin on my SM1 SM144 is conncted to ground in the monitor's plug. Get a list of the port pinout,pull the plug apart and fold the sound pin backwards so that it no longer in use. That's what I did and fixed sound on the SM1224. Hope it helps. Walt ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 179 Sun Mar 05, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 01:37 PST Rich, From what I've heard, Outside requires adrive formatted with Atari's HD Utils. Yuck! So you get even _slower_ virtual RAM access. Good luck, dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 180 Sun Mar 05, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 15:54 PST Rich, Wow, not so good news about Outside VMM. I had the same problems with the Outside Demo and contacted Chris at Computer Direct when I saw they had it on sale. He told me that the demo version was not a good representation of the real program and that when setup right it worked very well. So I ordered a copy. I haven't got it yet but will be quite upset if it does exactly what yours did. I'm also not pleased to hear about the scrappy documentation. The worst documentation I've received so far was with ScreenBlaster which I would have been ashamed to release, if I was a software developer. It was a poorly photocopied bunch of pages stapled together with a cardstock cover(also poorly photocopied). The cover had the word ScreenBlaster in a 60 point Times font at a 45 degree angle, and that's all. I wonder which elementary school class designed that cover? Half of the pages were photocopied on an angle. I looked at it, thought to myself, "I paid over $150(canadain) for THIS?", and felt like a fool(although in this case, the software/hardware did at least work, although the docs were not a great help). And yet the names of Compo and 2-B are associated with this software. Something is surely amiss here.... On a better note, if you like the color icon feature of the Falcon, you will also find this feature even further enhanced in the new version of Neodesk(4), in which each icon can consist of two 16 color icons(for selected and unselected), two 4 color icons(for ST Medium selected and unselected), and two monochrome icons(for monochrome selected and unselected). So you can have animated icons in all resolutions. It also comes with a very nice manual, from a software developer that still cares about what they produce. Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 181 Sun Mar 05, 1995 R.THIEMAN [T-MAN] at 22:00 EST Frank I've got NeoDesk 4 but as today I just have not gotten around to it. I'm still using NeoDesk 3.03 on my Mega ST4. Are you saying you recommend it for the Falcon? I'm running into memory problems already with just 4 megs on the bird! I have been doing a lot of messing with ImageCopy 3.5. I also just got a CD ROM drive and one of the first disks I purchased had over 3000 GIF images on it. IMC 3.5 has a Thumbnail option that puts up miniature images on the screen and then lets you save them to a TIFF file. I've been cataloging 173 images in one file which takes up about 600K as a TIFF file. IMC 3.5 wants around 3 meg of ram to work with or you start getting error messages like "not enough memory to load GIF 335. I've had to strip almost all auto programs and accessories to give IMC 3.5 that much memory. I've tried to use OUTSIDE in many different configurations but IMC 3.5 bombs every time. I am trying to use the internal IDE 84 meg hard drive which has been formatted with Atari HDX. I wondering whether an empty partition would work better but have not had an empty partition to try. I have been installing OUTSIDE on drive D which is a 68 meg partition with about 50 meg empty. Let me know how you make out with OUTSIDE. It seems like such a great idea. Frustrated but still trying! Rich ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 182 Sun Mar 05, 1995 P.MODOS [YIKES!] at 21:15 PST Pete Yes, you can get a better composite video out of your Falcon. There is a company who pre-builds these things. Unfortunately, I threw away the package when I got mine. I'll call my local dealer and get them to tell me the name of the company. I've used it to get photo output on to my tv, and it looks pretty good. Hamlet: I've got an NEC Multisync 4FGe. It 'ain't cheap at around $750 Can. for a 15". But it sure looks nice. Its got all the control for screen placement, and even colour adjustment. It works just great with Screenblaster too. YIKES! out. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 183 Mon Mar 06, 1995 P.FLETCHER4 [Pete] at 18:28 EST My fellow Falcon owners.....dig this.. DOOM ON THE ST? YES! HOT ON THE heels of the stonkingly brilliant OBSESSION from Unique Developments are releasing the first ever DOOM clone for the STe and Falcon. Entitled SUBSTATION it looks like being another smash for Unique Developments, proving once again that the STe and FAlcon can easily keep up with the big boys in the fast moving graphics and gameplay stakes. SUBSTATION will run on 1mb STe's and Falcons, and feature an option to link up to four machines via the MIDI ports. You can then play against three others or in teams of two in the battle for SUBSTATION, 2,500 meters under the sea. For the uninitiated, DOOM is a fast paced, first person perspective game in which you run around a realistic 3D environment killing everything in your Path. Mindless, violent fun! (Reprinted from ST Format Issue 68) The pictures look pretty decent, not as good as DOOM, more like WOLFENSTEIN, but good. I think it should be cool because I own both a Falcon and an STe so linking up might be fun! For a picture check out issue 68 of ST Format. Pete ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 184 Wed Mar 08, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 00:21 PST Rich, >..are you saying you recommend it [Neo4] for the Falcon? Sure, it is definitely a superior desktop, especially when used with Geneva, but because I have the same memory problems you have, I am forced to unload it at times also. Whenever I want to run a large program, I use my boot- manager(MouseBoot) to strip the system down(unload any unnecessary Auto programs and ACC's). I was hoping Outside would help in my situation also, as I can't afford the 14 meg upgrade (I get the feeling that the people who make computer RAM chips have a strangle-hold on the market, as RAM prices have not dropped over the years like other computer accessories, yet they should have). I spoke with Chris at Computer Direct about your problems with Outside VMM and he said that if it bombed for *everything* you tried to run with it, you may have it configured wrong, or may not have the latest version. He said it should run with most GEM compliant programs, although there may always be the odd program that doesn't like it, in which case it would have to be run without Outside. He also suggested that you might want to talk to Yat Siu of Lexicor(you can reach them by e-mail on GEnie, or check the "graphics" area as they are also available there). What other programs have you tried under Outside that gave problems? I should be getting my copy within the next few weeks so I'll let you know how it goes at this end when it arrives... *************** Pete, >...DOOM is a fast paced, first person perspective game in which you >run around in a realistic 3D environment killing everything in >your path.... Sounds like rush-hour traffic... :) Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 185 Wed Mar 08, 1995 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 19:20 CST Does anyone know anything about RATSoft BBS software? I am using version 2.0g (or was it j?). I have heard a few references to people using it recently and I am trying to find out if they are still around. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 186 Wed Mar 08, 1995 B.DEWITT [Perfesser] at 18:59 MST Can anyone tell me whether the Falcon (or any Atari computer) can access the World Wide Web, and if so, how? I read somewhere (I think) that there was an Atari page on WWW. Th'Perfesser ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 187 Thu Mar 09, 1995 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 01:53 EST Perf, There are quite a few Atari pages, and anyone can access the Web ... but to browse the Web graphically, a proper Web browser is needed; otherwise you'll get odd HTML-formatted text (readable, but looking like a WordPerfect document with the codes showing....). A Web browser for the Atari running MiNTnet was posted on the Net last week, but that's all I know. Al ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 188 Thu Mar 09, 1995 S.LYSTER [Stu Lyster] at 07:28 PST Perfesser - there are *MANY* Atari pages. The most complete one is the MERIT site at the University of Michigan. Any telecomm program set to ANSI or VT100 will let you communicate with the WWW. You do not get the fancy graphics of a proper IBM front end, but you do get around just as easily. I am on the WWW and the MERIT gopher FTP site almost every day. I use Flash 2.21 on my Falcon. Stuart ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 189 Fri Mar 10, 1995 R.THUROW [Rich] at 03:56 CST Perf, As Al said and let me add that you can surf the WWW using lynx and any terminal program that supports VT100 emulation. No graphics, but all the text is there. Most internet providers offer lynx these days. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 190 Fri Mar 10, 1995 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 19:56 PST Spud Boy, RATSoft support BBS is at (909)481-1927, the author (Steve Hughey) is running the support board again and doing the sales from what I gather for now on. To many people probley getting their hands in the green... probley more so than the author. He's running the support BBS on the Falcon now. Version 2.1b is soon to be released. Rodney ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 191 Mon Mar 13, 1995 W.DUDAN [Simplissius] at 07:59 EST Falcon owners will be interested in a new hard drive series from Sea- gate. The drives are small: 5" x 4" wide x 0.75" high. This fits right into the area where the 2.5" drive was. I've got an IDE 854mb and a 524mb SCSI is listed as well. Seagate may very well come up with a SCSI in 854 size (hope so). Please post this in hard drive topic. Symp ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 192 Mon Mar 13, 1995 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 12:24 EST Were any prices given on the 854 meg IDE drive? -- Albert @ AEO ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 193 Mon Mar 13, 1995 D.ASHTON1 [Stargazer ] at 19:06 EST Simplissius, Any idea on the cost of these new Segate HDs? ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 194 Mon Mar 13, 1995 E.MATHESON at 21:33 MST Hi Falcon Folks! I only recently bought a used Falcon so I'm not up to speed on what sort of messages have been posted here (I notice there are more than a couple dozen archives of Falcon discussions in the Library). But hoping someone will be kind and save me the trouble of downloading all those, I have two main questions/concerns. Hard disk reads and writes, especially to my Syquest are terribly slow in comparison to my Adspeeded Mega ST (TOS 1.04). The Falcon reminds me of my old 520 ST with TOS 1.0 which was also dreadfully slow reading, writing or deleting files on the hard drive until I came across a couple of programs designed to remedy that (i.e. FATSPEED and PINHEAD). Also converting to TOS 1.04 cleared up the problem on the ST. Running those on the Falcon has no effect. So what, if anything, can be done about this on the Falcon?. The internal HD is faster than the Syquest, but also like molasses compared to the Megafile or Syquest on my Mega. Second question. One of my favorite utilities, DC Shower, doesn't work on the Falcon and using the SHOW command built into the Falcon is also slow as molasses and terribly inflexible for reading files. Is there a good Falcon utility for quickly looking at text files? My Falcon is a 4/65 megabyte unit with TOS 4.01. Is this slowness, the fault of TOS 4.01? What would I gain from a later TOS like 4.04? Also, HOTWIRE seems to run, but not from the AUTO folder. Is this fixable? Universal Item Selector is OK in ST resolutions, but not so for other modes. Is this fixable? Thanks for any information volunteered. Is NVDI similar in purpose to Warp 9? Eric M. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 195 Mon Mar 13, 1995 MUSE [Tomas] at 23:40 PST Eric, The fix for HotWire (v3.0) is to run TT_INST.PRG which is on the HotWire master disk. There is a Falcon patch by CFJ called TOS4_FIX that allows DeskManager and MaxiFile III and others to work normally on the Falcon. It's in the libraries. DC Shower is a tough thing to loose, but HotWire's global block feature can help you install readers, viewers, editors, players, etc. for any file type you may find while in MaxiFile. You can do the same thing at the Desktop level as well. Personally, I think the Atari hard disk drivers are slow. ICD can help you with that. You didn't mention the versions of your software, that would be helpful. re: Warp 9 and NVDI similar in purpose? Uh, yes and no. Lot's of differences and many things in common. ===Tomas=== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 196 Tue Mar 14, 1995 I.POSSEHL1 at 19:29 CST Eric - I find TitEd by Raymond Hill to be a nice text editor/viewer. To my knowledge it works on all ST series computers including the Falcon. I believe there is a demo or shareware version here in the Library. Another text editor I have always liked in the one in STorm (I wish it were seperate from the terminal program). Iver ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 197 Tue Mar 14, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 22:02 EST Eric, I use and love the Revenge Document Displayer, or RDD. It is a non-GEM viewer. You view text by moving the mouse or using the arrow keys. If you hold shift while moving mouse or pressing arrow keys, it scrolls a page. You can link up utilities with it and also a text editor. RDD passes the file you are viewing as a parameter to the editor. (there is one problem with this, but it is easily fixed by changing the NEWDESK.INF file or by using NeoDesk). I can send you the good version if you decide to use RDD (and of course, if you don't feel like fixing it yourself.) The text scrolls very fast, even in hi-color res (it works in all res's except true-colour). I think it is here in the lib, but I got it from a friend who used to be on Compuserve. Hope I helped... The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 198 Wed Mar 15, 1995 J.WHETSTONE [Hamlet] at 00:09 EST Tomas, So, are you saying that ICD utilities would make my drive (stock 84 MB that came installed in the falc) read and write faster? Where can I get them and how much should I expect to pay? Are there any other features? Thanks. The Rogue and Peasant Slave Hamlet ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 199 Tue Mar 14, 1995 D.PHILLIPS25 at 22:31 PST Anybody have any problems with running Calamus SL under Multi-TOS on a Falcon? Dan ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 200 Tue Mar 14, 1995 MUSE [Tomas] at 22:45 PST Hamlet, That's my belief, yes. You will need the ICD Pro Utilities and they can be had at all your good Atari dealers, m'friend. Or you could send Email to ICDINC. ===Tomas=== ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 201 Wed Mar 15, 1995 F.ZIMMERMAN3 [Frank Z.] at 01:34 PST Eric, I have a Falcon 4/85 with TOS 4.04, and have both my internal IDE and the external SCSI formatted with the Atari Hard Drive Utils, but I certainly wouldn't call them "slow as molasses". In fact they seem fairly quick. However, since we can't compare them very well on-line, you may want to try the ICD utils. One of the advantages with these is that they have configurable read/write caches which will speed up hard-drive access considerably(at the expense of RAM). There are a number of utilities in the works to replace DC Shower, but until they are released, one of the best all-purpose viewers is called 1stGuide(or it's earlier release, 1stView). It is available in the libraries here, and will allow you to view GEM,IMG,IFF,XIMG, JPG picture files, ASCII and 1st Word text files, RSC files, SAM, SND & AVR sound files, and MPG movie animations. It puts these in a scrollable resizable window, so it's pretty handy. The earlier version, 1stView, does all of the above except the sound files and MPG/JPG's. Takes up less memory. These can be run as program or accessory, or set up as installed applications. NVDI is similar to Warp9 in that they both accelerate screen display. Some of the differences are - Warp 9 includes mouse acceleration & control, screensavers, and desktop picture/pattern/ font; NVDI has a rudimentary mouse accelerator, font replacement, but none of the others. However it has SpeedoGDOS built in and handles TrueType and Speedo fonts as well as the regular GDOS bitmaps. NVDI's screen acceleration also works in the Falcon's color resolutions whereas Warp9's doesn't do much for 16 colors and up. NVDI3's implementation of SpeedoGDOS is very solid and fast. It comes with drivers for most printers and the ability to print to IMG graphic file. It has a number of CPX's to adjust it's settings which are very handy. If you're not imovably fixed on HotWire, you may want to consider getting FlexMenu from Trace Technologies. It provides quite a few of HotWire's features but runs in a small GEM-Window, thus allowing you free access to the normal desktop. ******************* Dan, >Anybody have any problems with running Calamus SL under Multi-TOS >on a Falcon? Ehh? Multi-Sloth? I have problems running *anything* under Multi-TOS! In fact, programs don't really *run* under Multi-TOS, they get carried on a stretcher!! :) Don't you have Geneva yet? Dan @ Gribnif is working on making Geneva & MiNT work together, so that looks to be like the *real* replacement for MultiTOS, ie. what MultiTOS should have been. Frank Z. ------------ Category 30, Topic 3 Message 202 Wed Mar 15, 1995 S.WINICK at 06:07 EST Hamlet, >> ... would make my drive (stock 84 MB that came installed in >> the falc) read and write faster? Many of the early production Falcons had the drive grounding plat incorrectly mounted on the wrong side of the hard drive, which resulted in the drive spinning down, slow reads and writes, and overall poor performance. The symptoms you're describing could very well be caused by that incorrect mounting. The grounding plate should be mounted on the side of the drive furthest away from the internal Falcon power supply. Have that checked by a qualified service technician or Atari service center. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------