From rnews Mon Jun 15 12:39:10 1992 Path: umn.edu!spool.mu.edu!caen!destroyer!news.iastate.edu!vincent1.iastate.edu!sourada From: sourada@iastate.edu (Steven D Ourada) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st! (Software) Summary: Some frequent questions and answers about Atari 16/32 bit computers. Please read this before asking a question on comp.sys.atari.st. Message-ID: Date: 15 Jun 92 15:29:49 GMT Article-I.D.: vincent1.sourada.708622189 Expires: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 00:00:00 GMT References: Sender: news@news.iastate.edu (USENET News System) Followup-To: comp.sys.atari.st Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA Lines: 610 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Archive-name: csas-faq/part2 Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st! Please read this FAQ before posting a question to comp.sys.atari.st, since a lot of common questions are answered here. Thanks to David Paschall-Zimbel (davidli@simvax.labmed.umn.edu) for compiling most of this FAQ. The following is an index of the questions answered in this part of the FAQ. For easy access to a particular question, search for the tag surrounded by colons (i. e. :GNU:) WEL Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st ARCS How do I deal with Archived files (.ZOO, .ARC, .LZH)? CLI What Command Line Interpreters are available? ERR What does TOS ERROR nn mean? GDOS What is GDOS, and where can I get it? GNU What GNU software is available for the ST? HAM Where can I find Ham Radio software for the ST? LANG Public Domain/Shareware languages... MINIX Is MINIX available on the Atari ST? MINT What is MiNT? PAINT What is the format for [x] paint program data? PD Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software? MAIL E-Mail file servers FTP Anonymous FTP servers TEX Is TeX/LaTeX available on the Atari ST? :WEL: Welcome to comp.sys.atari.st ============================ This newsgroup is devoted to discussion about 16 and 32 bit Atari micros. At present that includes the Atari 520ST, 1040ST, Mega ST, STe, STacy, Mega STe, and the Atari TT. There are also emulators for the Apple Macintosh and IBM PC/XT/AT available. Most of the people who read this newsgroup are technically oriented. The newsgroup serves as a resource for Atari users ... feel free to contribute to the discussions. Associated newsgroups include: comp.binaries.atari.st ! uuencoded binary programs comp.sys.atari.st.tech ! technical programming/hardware topics comp.sources.atari.st ! uuencoded/shar sources :ARCS: How do I deal with Archived files (.ZOO, .ARC, .LZH)? ===================================================== Files ending with suffixes .ZOO, .ARC and .LZH are archive files. They are binary files which may contain one or more other files in a compressed format. Archive files usually take up less disk space, and for this reason have become quite popular for transferring large files via modem. In order to extract the files from an archive file, one must use an archive program. Here are the correspondences: ARC Use ARC.TTP LZH Use LHARC.TTP ZOO Use ZOO.TTP ARCHIVERS These programs are all available via FTP from the atari.archive server, in the /atari/archivers directory. Recommended files are: arc602.ttp - version 6.02 of ARC, includes features to archive subdirectories and also include comments with files. arc602.arc - contains documentation. UnArc using arc602.ttp. arc521e.arc - older version of ARC. Used mostly by those who want speed, better compression, and don't care about archiving subdirectories. UnArc using arc602.ttp. lharc.ttp - version 2.0 of LHARC. lzh201i.lzh - Thomas Questors lzh utility. German documentation. UnArc using lharc.ttp zoo21.ttp - version 2.1 of ZOO zoo21bin.zoo - ZOO archive includes documentation. UnArc using zoo21.ttp. :CLI: What Command Line Interpreters are available? ============================================= There are a large number of Command Line Interpreters for the Atari ST. Some of the more popular ones include: gulam the 'classic' cli, somewhat UNIX in flavor BASH GNU Bourne Again Shell - available under MINT ksh Korn Shell - available under MINT gemini MUPFEL is the shell used by the gemini environment okami a German shell with many useful utilities built in pcommand an MS-DOS-like shell csh C-shell, standard on Unix tcsh Enchanced C-shell - available under MiNT Check atari.archive under /atari/cli or /atari/mint, or check one of the other FTP sites for files. :ERR: What does TOS ERROR nn mean? What do the bombs on my screen mean? ==================================== The information below was written, in part, by Darryl May, and posted on GEnie in January (of ????) by John Townsend. The original also appeared in the June 1988 issue of _Current Notes_ (122 N. Johnson Rd., Sterling, VA 22170). It has since found its way to me, and is being posted to comp.sys.atari.st as a service to readers. Alan Pratt wrote to tell me that the basic information may be correct, but that it cannot be dubbed "official" unless it originates, on paper, from Atari. This makes sense, as electronic communications are easily modified, even accidentally. Roland Waldi provided information regarding the difference between TOS and GEM return codes which appears to be correct. The tables have been modified to reflect his information. The following is an unofficial list of the errors that can appear while you are operating your ST computer. Error description return code alert box # ====================================================== OK (no error)....................0 Fundamental error...............-1 Drive not ready.................-2 Unknown command.................-3 CRC error.......................-4 Bad request.....................-5 Seek error......................-6 Unknown media...................-7 Sector not found................-8 No paper........................-9 Write fault....................-10 Read fault.....................-11 General error..................-12 Write protect..................-13 Media change...................-14 Unknown device.................-15 Bad sectors on format..........-16 Insert other disk..............-17 Invalid function number........-32............1 File not found.................-33............2 Path not found.................-34............3 No handles left................-35............4 Access denied..................-36............5 Invalid handle.................-37............6 Insufficient memory............-39............8 Invalid memory block address...-40............9 Invalid drive specified........-46...........15 No more files..................-49...........18 Range error....................-64...........33 Internal error.................-65...........34 Invalid program load format....-66...........35 The last code is the infamous "TOS error 35"! Also, some unofficial information via Alan Pratt: Notably, you should add -48: ENSAME (not the same drive, occurs when you call Frename and the two names you give aren't on the same drive), and -67: EGSBF: you can't use Mshrink to GROW a block of memory. Those bombs that appear on your screen are error messages from the 68000 micro-processor. Number Description of bombs =========================================== Reset: Initial PC2...............1 Bus Error........................2 Address Error....................3 Illegal Instruction..............4 Zero Divide......................5 CHK Instruction..................6 TRAPV Instruction................7 Privilege Violation..............8 Trace............................9 Line 1010 Emulator..............10 Line 1111 Emulator..............11 [unassigned, reserved]..........12 [unassigned, reserved]..........13 Format Error....................14 Uninitialized Interrupt Vector..15 [unassigned, reserved].......16-23 Spurious Interrupt..............24 Level 1 Interrupt Autovector....25 Level 2 Interrupt Autovector....26 Level 3 Interrupt Autovector....27 Level 4 Interrupt Autovector....28 Level 5 Interrupt Autovector....29 Level 6 Interrupt Autovector....30 Level 7 Interrupt Autovector....31 Trap Instruction Vectors.....32-47 [unassigned, reserved].......48-63 User Interrupt Vectors......64-255 :GDOS: What is GDOS, and where can I get it? ===================================== GDOS stands for Graphic Device Output System (at least that's what my copy of STart, volume 1 number 1 said...) There is a newer version, called FSMGDOS, which should be available commercially from Atari. It is currently included with WordFlair II. FSMGDOS uses scaleable fonts - you do not need to create a font file for every point size. Current word is that the street price for FSMGDOS will be about $50. The Lucida font family comes with FSMGDOS, and the output is very nice, even on a 9-pin Epson printer. There are desk accessories which allow you to manipulate available fonts, and also CPX programs for the newer Atari Control Panel. For those who only have limited memory, a newer version of GDOS is also included with the distribution. For those with investments in older bit-mapped GDOS fonts, they may be used with the new version of GDOS or used as bit-mapped (ie. non-scaleable) fonts within FSMGDOS. You can get a copy of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About GDOS (and more)" by Douglas N. Wheeler from the atari.archive server. The file is /atari/programming/gdos.arc. There is a German version of GDOS available from the atari.archive server. The file is /atari/utilities/amcgdos.arc. Currently, there are no truly public domain sources for the GDOS system files or font files (at least those supplied by Atari). You can get these files with many commercial programs, such as Degas Elite, WordFlair, etc. You might also want to check your local user group to see if they received a copy of the WordFlair demo program (also available on GEnie). The demo program appears to have the GDOS system and font files. :GNU: What GNU software is available for the ST? ========================================== The Free Software Foundation C compiler, commonly known as GNU C (or gcc) is avaiable for the Atari ST. The minimal memory required to do any useful (i.e. beyond 'hello world') programming is 2.5 megabytes. A 4 megabyte system is recommended. There is an extensive archive of the latest GNU C programs via anonymous FTP on atari.archive. GNU C is also available at cs.uni-sb.de and most other European FTP sites. The latest version of GCC available for the ST is 2.1, this version includes built-in support for C++. The following can be found in the /atari/gnustuff/tos directory of atari.archive: (Note: all of these have Unixmode and MiNT support) BASH Bourne-again shell BISON Yet another YACC (Yet Another Compiler Compiler) COMPRESS Compatible with Unix compress DIFF Compares files; PATCH does the inverse EMACS Extreme editor :-) Fileutils Unix file utilities FLEX Lexical analyzer, like Unix lex GAWK AWK report generation language GCC 2.1 C, C++ compiler GDB GNU debugger, with source level C support Ghostscript Postscript clone GROFF Text formatting system GREP Regular expression search, like Unix grep MAKE Like Unix make MAKEINFO Stand-alone system to process .info files PATCH Changes files from diffs; DIFF does the inverse PROF Profiles executable code RCS Revision Control System SED Stream editor Smalltalk Smalltalk; object oriented language TAR Tape archiver like Unix tar :HAM: Where can I find Ham Radio software for the ST? =============================================== Plenty of Ham Radio software is available for the Atari ST: Morse code Radio Teletype (RTTY) Packet Radio (W0RLI BBS and K9AQ TCP/IP) Satellite Tracking WEFAX Color Slow Scan TV (SSTV) etc. For more information contact the Atari Microcomputer Network: Newsletter Editor - Gil Frederick, VE4AG 130 Maureen Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3K 1M2 Canada or Program Librarian - John Adams, KC5FW 17106 Happy Hollow San Antonio, TX 78232 U.S.A. or Tune into the weekly net Sundays 16:00 UTC on 14.325 MHz. 73, John Langner, WB2OSZ :LANG: Public Domain/Shareware languages... ==================================== There are a large number of programming languages available for use with the Atari ST. Programmers seem to flock to the Atari ST, and if you know of a language, you can probably find it, or an equivalent, for the ST. 68000 assembler/disassembler abc APL AWK BASIC C C++ cross assemblers (z80, 6502, 68xx,8031/80xx) Elan FORTRAN FORTH ICON LISP Modula2 OPS5 perl PROLOG SCHEME Smalltalk XLisp XProlog XScheme Check the atari.archive server under /atari/languages. Most other archive sites will have a language directory which you can also check. :MINIX: Is MINIX available on the Atari ST? =================================== MINIX is a UNIX-like operating system for the IBM PC, XT, AT, 386, and PS/2, as well as the Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and later in 1991, Sun SPARC. It is available with all the source code for the entire operating system, the libraries, and nearly 200 UNIX-like utilities. Demonstration disks for the IBM PC line and Atari ST are available for free via anonymous FTP for people on the Internet. A Macintosh version will be online soon. (If you can't wait, see below.) To get a free demo disk and the manual, use ftp to connect to ftp.cs.vu.nl (192.31.231.42) and look in pub/minix/demo. The READ_ME file describes the contents of the directory and how to use it. Be sure to fetch and read this first. It contains important information. If you don't have FTP access, you can buy the demo disk package from Prentice- Hall for $10 by calling (201) 767-5969 or FAX (201) 767-5625. Please DON'T ask me to send it by email. I have quite enough work already thank you. The ordering numbers for Prentice-Hall are: - MINIX 1.5 IBM demo disk (0-13-582768-x) (in stock now) - MINIX 1.5 Atari demo disk (0-13-582792-2) (in stock now) - MINIX 1.5 Macintosh demo disk (0-13-582784-1) (in stock now) Please note that although the demo disks are available for free on line, MINIX itself is copyrighted software and is not available on line. The demo disks are also copyrighted, but permission is hereby granted to upload and use them for evaluation purposes. The READ_ME file tells how MINIX can be ordered. AS A COURTESY TO US, PLEASE DO NOT FTP DURING BUSINESS HOURS (EUROPEAN TIME). PLEASE FTP AFTER 11 A.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME. If you want to follow the MINIX discussion, read the comp.os.minix newsgroup, which is quite active and has almost 50,000 subscribers. Have fun! Andy Tanenbaum (ast@cs.vu.nl) :MINT: What is MiNT? ============= MiNT is a free multitasking operating system extension for TOS. It is somewhat like BSD Unix from the programmer's perspective. Note that MiNT will only multitask character-based programs, GEM can't handle multiple programs and MiNT provides no enhancements to GEM. MiNT and lots of stuff to go with it can be found at atari.archive.umich.edu:/atari/mint. A somewhat interesting note: MiNT is now the kernel of Atari's multitasking OS, MultiTOS. Originially MiNT stood for 'MiNT is Not TOS', but it's now 'MiNT is Now TOS'. :-) :PAINT: What is the format for [x] paint program data? ============================================== There is a periodic posting of ST Picture Formats, edited by David Baggett. The file is on the atari.archive server under /atari/graphics/picfmts.doc. :PD: Where can I get Public Domain/Shareware software? ========================================================== There are FTP sources and a comp.sources.atari.st/comp.binaries.atari.st mail server. You can also try the commercial on-line services such as GEnie, CompuServe, Delphi and Bix. Using FTP, most files should be retrieved in BINARY format (at least those ending with the suffix of .ARC, .LZH, .ZOO, .PRG, .TTP, .TOS) Mail servers encode files. You will need a program called 'uudecode' in order to change files ending with the suffix .UUE (or .UAB, .UAC, etc.) into their original form. :MAIL: E-Mail file servers archive-server@twitterpater.Eng.Sun.COM: --------------------------------------- Twitterpater holds all of the comp.sources.atari.st / comp.binaries.atari.st postings. If you aren't reading these two newsgroups, you should consider doing so. You may obtain uuencoded files as e-mail. You can obtain a help file by mailing a message to archive-server@twitterpater.eng.sun.com, with the main body of the message being the word 'help'. atari@atari.archive.umich.edu: ----------------------------- The atari.archive server is mentioned many times in this article. It contains a multitude of Atari ST PD and shareware programs. If you don't have access via FTP you can obtain many of the files via e-mail. You should first obtain a help file by mailing a message to atari@atari.archive.umich.edu, with the main body of the message being the word 'help.'. If you are from a uucp site, please enclose this statement also 'path host1!host2!....', where host1!host2!... is your path. Please read the help file completely before you ask questions, and then send any you may have to jon@atari.archive.umich.edu. Any questions about the archive or specific files go to weiner@atari.archive.umich.edu archive-server@lancs.pdsoft: --------------------------- This is a UK public domain archive, available to sites within the UK via via JANET. info-server@ftp.Informatik.Uni-dortmund.DE: ------------------------------------------ This is a german public domain archive. mail-server@cs.ruu.nl (or uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!mail-server): --------------------------------------------------------------- send the following message begin path john@highbrow.edu (PLEASE SUBSTITUTE *YOUR* ADDRESS) send ATARI-ST/index end NOTE: *** PLEASE USE VALID INTERNET ADDRESSES IF POSSIBLE. DO NOT USE ADDRESSES WITH ! and @ MIXED !!!! BITNETTERS USE USER@HOST.BITNET *** The path command can be deleted if we receive a valid from address in your message. If this is the first time you use our mail server, we suggest you first issue the request: send HELP LISTSERV@UOGUELPH.BITNET: ------------------------ Mail messages with the contents HELP will bring you some usage information and GET PROG-A16 FILELIST will provide you with a list of files. Subscriptions to INFO-A16 are also available on this server. INFO-A16 is a digest of messages from comp.sys.atari.st. :FTP: Anonymous FTP servers Note: The generally accepted practice for FTP use is as follows: 1. Limit access times to non-working hours. This is usually 6-8 pm to 8-9 am LOCAL time. LOCAL time means local to the computer you are accessing! For example, 4 P.M. in Minneapolis, Minnesota is 10 P.M. in England, and 10 A.M. in Germany is 4 A.M. in New York. 2. Once you connect, issue the following commands at your FTP prompt: user anonymous 3. Limit downloads, especially across the ocean. Remember, there are other people who are using the same lines as you. Atari FTP sites (the list is -not- exhaustive) ---------------------------------------------- atari.archive.umich.edu [141.211.164.8] uk.ac.lancs.pdsoft (available to UK users via JANET) Note: Access is a bit different for this archive site, use the following: user pdsoft pdsoft (at the Password prompt) ftp.Informatik.Uni-dortmund.DE [129.217.64.63] cs.uni-sb.de [134.96.7.254] archive.cs.ruu.nl [131.211.80.5] :TEX: Is TeX/LaTeX available on the Atari ST? ======================================= The TeX/LaTeX typesetting programs are available on the Atari ST. Check the atari.archive server under /atari/tex. Fonts and device drivers (including one for the Epson 9-pin printers) are available on the atari.archive server. The latest version of TeX (3.1) has recently been made available on the atari.archive server. The files are in a subdirectory of their own. Graham Higgins recently wrote a message in comp.sys.atari.st indicating the minimum files needed to get a working TeX/LaTeX system up and running on the Atari ST. He said: You'll need, at minimum: The binaries for LaTeX/TeX :StTeXBin The style files :StTeXSty The font macros :StTeXTfm If you want to screen-preview, you'll need screen font files (showdvi) If you want to print locally, you'll need printer font files (dvifont) Allow 5Mb. For a step-by-step article on setting up Tex and LaTeX, send an e-mail request to davidli@simvax.labmed.umn.edu. Be sure to mention 'tex.setup'. There is also a complete, ready-to-install distribution called CS-TeX. The latest version, 4.0, is available at atari.archive: /atari/tex/cs-tex-4.0. This consists of 8 disks full of TeX stuff, plus an installation program that takes care of the details for you. ===================================================================== Hope you liked the comp.sys.atari.st FAQ. If you have comments, suggestions, more material, etc., mail me at sourada@iastate.edu Thanks to David Paschall-Zimbel (davidli@simvax.labmed.umn.edu) for compiling most of this FAQ. Later, Steven Ourada -- ----------------- Steven Ourada Member of the Students for Electronic Freedom Ask me how Iowa State University is censoring my Usenet access! sourada@iastate.edu "can't casts no shadow" -- cummings