Questions & Answers

You supply the questions our team of experts sets about solving them!

How2ExtractLongFileNames

I have downloaded some ZIP files from the Internet, but the files they contain have long Unix-style filenames, causing me all kinds of grief when I try and extract them. I'm using MagiC v4, is there any way to extract them to "normal" file format? ataricomputing conference, CIX

Upgrade to MagiC v5 which supports long filenames (although there seems to be a few teething troubles with this feature). Alternatively install the RAMdisk XFS, which supports long filenames under MagiC v4, and make that the destination for the extracted files. Now you can rename the files in the RAMdisk to 8+3 style and move them onto your drive.
Martyn Dryden

Removable drives & AHDI

Can ZIP drives be used with AHDI? If I use other driver software such as ICD or HD-Driver I get SCSI timeout errors and the HD locks up. I had the first SCSI mod done to my Falcon by Atari but never had the revised mod performed because my machine was out of warranty and I'm wondering if this is the problem. I'd really like a ZIP drive, but don't want to purchase one unless I can get a driver to work with it reliably.
Daron M. Brewood, via CIX

Both ZIP and EZ drives do work with AHDI and the ICD and HD-Driver software. There must be some other problem with your system. There are two important things to bear in mind:

• ZIP drives can only be set to SCSI ID's 5 or 6 whereas EZ drives can be set to any SCSI ID number
• AHDI prefers consecutive SCSI ID numbers starting from ID0

Sticky CAB

Somtimes when loading a web page containing graphics the transfer freezes just before completing the transfer. These are usually JPEGs. I usually press the [Esc] key to continue loading the page but I'm wondering if there's a better solution - the behaviour is repeatable.
Rob Withof, via the internet

In most cases if you wait long enough that last block will be transfered, you need a little more patience. Sometimes a frozen count can resume after a delay of a minute or more! There's a new "Kick" command [Control]+K which can get the transfer going again in some, but not all, cases.
There is one stubborn bug which consistantly prevents file completion on a few pages. If you encounter a stuck transfer proceed as follows:

1. Make a note the position where the transfer fails
2. Wait 15 seconds, to allow for normal server delay
3. Press [Control]+K three times in quick succession (once or twice is usually ineffective)
4. If there is no flash on the modem's "RD" LED go to step 6
5. If there was a flash on the modem's "RD" repeat steps 2 and 3
6. Wait another 10 seconds in case the server responds to the kicks
7. If transfer still frozen, give up and press the [Esc] key
8. If it is not important to view the page give up
9. If the page is important try clicking the Reload button
10. If the new transfer gets stuck at the same position for the same file you've hit the bug and transfer will always fail so give up.

Papyrus Masterclass

I use Papyrus for most of my WP and DTP work and am wondering if there is any way to move frequently using elements, such as text, boxes, tables, lines, clip art between documents? Papyrus does allow me to export text as an RTF file which I can import into the new document, but I lose all the tables and graphical elements. I have to resort to redrawing, from scratch, boxes and lines, then generating the same text and clip art over and over again!
Andy Page, Tamworth

There are some undocumented Papyrus features which does exactly this!
There are two similar procedures, one for copying within the same document, the other to copy elements to another document.
To duplicate elements within the same document: Load the target document and set the zoom setting to Whole page - notice the grey clipboard area to the right of your document. Select the arrow tool and draw a selection box around the elements to be duplicated which selects them ready for manipulation as a group. To copy the elements, hold down the [Left Shift] button then click and drag the selected items to the grey clipboard area (to move elements don't hold the [Left Shift] button down). Now move to the location within your document to paste the elements in again, select the elements in the clipboard area and, holding the [Left Shift] button down again, drag into position.
Copying elements to another document is basically the same procedure: Leave your original document on screen and open another (new or existing) document. Arrange the screen so both windows are displayed side by side - don't try overlapping them or swapping windows, then follow the steps above.
Mike Kerslake

An excellent, yet undocumented, Papyrus feature enables elements to be copied between documents and the clipboard

HD-Driver and MagiC

I recently took the plunge and installed MagiC v5 on my Falcon. Since there I've experienced corrupted files. I'm using the latest HD-Driver software what's going on?

Since v4 (UK) MagiC has supported "Background DMA mode" when used in conjunction with the HD-Driver software. This can dramatically improve multitasking but should only be used if all of the devices on your SCSI bus support background DMA mode. This includes drivers for your hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape streamer, scanner, SLM printer, and so on. If in doubt you must switch background DMA off. MetaDOS and the drivers for the SLM604 and SLM805 are examples of drivers which do not support Background DMA.
Much of the trouble using Background DMA occurs during booting. Fortunately there is a handy trick which can be used to make things much more fluid. Edit your MAGX.INF file to remove the #_TSL line. This switches off pre-emptive multi-tasking during the boot sequence. Then, if you have the TSLICE CPX set to use pre-emptive multitasking it will be automatically switched back on again when you reach the desktop.
Recent versions of MagiC have also included a program called WBDAEMON, which enables write caching to speed up disk writes. Think carefully before enabling write caching, as a system crash or power cut can be disastrous - in a worst case scenario you could lose every piece of data on your hard disk! Read-ahead caching, as featured in HD-Driver, is absolutely safe and should be used by everyone.

Graeme Rutt

"Update" Humble Pie

In partial reply to T Yusuf's letter in AC#1, Papyrus and Outside certainly do work together, - I printed this letter using this combination! Papyrus is v3.66, Outside is v3.10 running on a 4Mb Falcon running Magic v4 and NVDI v4. Outside is set up with the page size set to 16Kb and 2Mb of alternative memory in RAM and Compatibility Mode switched on. This seems to make for a reasonably fast and stable system with most software. Occasionally, upon loading a document, Papyrus claims it is out of memory, but then goes ahead and loads the document anyway and doesn't complain again. I did initially have some problems with system crashes whilst printing but this was solved by increasing the printer buffer to 512K. This ensures Papyrus draws this memory from virtual RAM rather than ST RAM where things may be tighter. Martyn Tidd, Crawley

Drive me to corruption

I recently added a second hard drive to my system and copied some files between partitions and to floppy.
Several weeks later I discovered lots of corrupt files.
Is it possible to copy from either floppy drive to one of the hard drives without corruption providing only one drive is actually spun-up? I now only use the system with both drives spun-up together but would like to know what is causing this corruption and how to stop it! My system uses the Translator SCSI/ACSI host adaptor to interface with the drives.
Richard White, Somerset

There could be a number of reasons why this corruption is occurring. The most common is incorrect SCSI bus termination. Some SCSI devices are internally terminated with resistor packages called SIPs (Single In-line Package) whereas others use an external terminator which plugs into the unused SCSI connector on the device and are much easier to spot.,br> It is essential only the device physically at the end of the SCSI bus is terminated and that it has either internal or external termination but not both.
After checking and eliminating this reason the next most likely cause is a faulty cable between devices or a faulty Translator. The easiest way to check for faulty cables is to substitute them - a local user group meeting is the cheapest option, otherwise System Solutions can check out your Translator and cables.
Remember if you open a sealed drive this will invalidate any warranty.
Norman Bland, A|C|G

"Update" TOS v1.6 bug update

In AC#1 you answered R S Cleaver in Peaceheaven regarding his problem with TOS 1.6 could not save in medium resolution. One of the solutions you wrote was to edit the DESKTOP.INF file and change the line: #E 18 11 to: #E 18 12 This doesn't change anything because when you save desktop in medium res on TOS 1.6 you will get a line looking like: #E 18 12 Which thanks to the TOS bug re-boots into low resolution. The best solution is to make allowances for the TOS bug and edit the line to: #E 18 13 Now after a reboot the screen will be in medium resolution. #E 18 11 - Low res #E 18 12 - Med res #E 18 13 - High res Joachim thornblad, Sweden, via the internet

Errant Mouse

My mouse pointer occasionally disappears yet keyboard control still works, is there any way to salvage the pointer without rebooting?
Mike Chester, Bournemouth

Under TOS you can reset the mouse pointer using the key combination:
[Control]+[Left Shift]+[Alternate]]+[Keypad .]
Alternatively accessing a desktop accessory and then closing it again sometimes does the trick.
Hopefully these obscure antics will preserve a few of your flowing locks :-)
Brian Stanton, A|C|G

Speedy Gonzales

If you're using the CKBD/Compose mouse accelerator/keyboard manager, programmed by Pascal Fellerich, and would like linear doubling of mouse movement go into the MOUSE.CPX's polynomial editor and set the following constants: #1 = 512 #2 = 0 #3 = 0 And... here is the secret... click on the graph to get the accept the parameters and display the resulting curve. Now select OK and Save. Oliver Skelton, via CIX

Falcon Colours and resolutions

I've been having problems running some programs on the Falcon. My normal screen resolution is 640 by 200 in 16/256 colours, but some programs such as OPUS and Easy Text only expect 4 colours in this resolution. Is there any way to get them to run without having to switch to ST medium resolution? Steve MacDonald, Aberdeen

Use the Change video option in TOS to change to 2 colours, 80 columns, interlace on, and they will use their mono resource files instead! Not all programs will work but it's worth experimenting.
Martin Milner, A|C|G

Falcon Keyboard

My Falcon's keyboard is set up incorrectly, with various keys producing the wrong characters. I bought it secondhand, and didn't get any special software with it.
Peter Parker, St Ives

What you want is a nice little CPX module programmed by Jon Ellis called NVCONFIG.CPX. This allows you to change the settings stored in your Falcon's NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory). Your keyboard is probably set to a USA one, so using this CPX to select a UK keyboard. You'll need to reboot once you've changed the settings, but the values will be stored permanently thereafter. You'll also notice that you're screen height will be reduced, but you can change this by turning off the PAL mode setting in the CPX and rebooting again.

Warning!

Adding Hard Drive

I currently have a Falcon with an internal 65Mb IDE drive. Can I: 1) Put a big PC IDE internal drive inside it? 2) Add a SCSI internal/external drive externally and if I could do this, would I need any further hardware?
Kevin Cadoo, Putney

You could do either:

1. You could put a larger capacity 2.5 inch PC internal IDE drive into your Falcon. There isn't room inside the case for the larger 3.5 inch IDE drives but you can by an adaptor cable and trail this outside the case and power it using an external power supply - ideally housed in a proper casing.
2. This is easier option. Add a SCSI drive in preference to an IDE drive because it can plug directly into the Falcon's SCSI-2 socket. You may also like to consider mounting several external devices in a standard tower case and connecting them to your Falcon using the SCSI-Burster adaptor (Ed: Covered in News section). Finally, if the drive isn't terminated, you'll need a plug-in SCSI terminator.

Modem Initialisation
Some modems cannot recognise an intermittent dial tone, this can be happen for various reasons, for example, in the UK, if you have "Call Diversion" set up. If this happens, change the initial dial string from ATDT to ATX3DT - this tells most Hayes compatible modems not to look for a dial tone and to dial anyway. Brian Stanton, A|C|G