========================================================================= (C) 1993 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 41 Tue Dec 22, 1992 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 20:08 EST 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 14, Topic 41 Message 1 Tue Jun 01, 1993 B.REHBOCK [BILL@ATARI] at 00:05 EDT Steffan, the Falcon's video output is as good as many $2000 JVC and Sony video titlers/sketch pads that I've seen. Cogswell College is doing some production work right now with a pair of Falcons at this time; I'll touch base with James Grunke and see if he can give us a report on how they're doing in a professional environment. -Bill ============= Falcon030 Bundled Software Bulletin =============== Falcon030's with Hard Drives are currently shipping with the following software: o MultiTOS o SpeedoGDOS o Landmines o Breakout o Calappt (Personal Time Manager, Telephone Book/Dialer) o ProCalc o Talking Clock They are supposed to have (many didn't because everyone was eager to get machines shipped to dealers quickly) a mail-in card that you mail to Atari to receive: o Atari Works (Personal Integrated Productivity Package) o System Audio Manager (Accompany System Keyclicks and Events with Digitized Sounds.) o Audio Fun Machine (8-band graphic equalizer and special effects processor.) o FalconD2D (Direct-to-Disk recording system with special effects and editing.) IMPORTANT: We know exactly which dealers received machines without the mail-in cards and they are being sent their cards this week. Users that purchased machines and did not receive these cards can contact the dealer in about one week to get their card. All you have to do is fill out the card (make sure you include your dealer's name and machine's serial number); keep the verification half, and mail the other half to Atari. Machines without Hard Drives will not be shipped with SpeedoGDOS, Atari Works, or FalconD2D. They will have everything else (including the hard disk utilities in case you have your own SCSI Hard Disk). The Atari Hard Disk upgrade kits will ship with Atari Works, SpeedoGDOS, FalconD2D, as well as MultiTOS, etc. on the Hard Disk. -Bill Rehbock, Atari Corp. ======================================================================= ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 2 Thu Sep 09, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 01:27 EDT Any one have any advice on How to decompress a file (.Z) I have compress.ttp v4.3 (12/26/88) but I can't seem to get it to work. Also any good recomendations for a UUencode and decode? And to stay on topic..... I plan on using these on a Falcon! And how come there are no MPEG players for Atari? Amiga has them, so why can't we? Whatever happend to that brainstorm MPEG/JPEG/DSP stuff that we heard so much about before the Falcon came out? Does Atari France have an online presence? ----------> Sam ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 3 Thu Sep 09, 1993 P-DIRECT2 [Tim @ TWP] at 20:10 EDT I need to know what value the Atari Falcon's BIOS initializes the Z85C30 (SCC)'s write register 1 with. WR1 is the "Transmit/Receive Interrupt and Data Transfer Mode Definition" register, and I need to know how it is set for the RS-232 port, which I believe is channel B. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 4 Sat Sep 11, 1993 R.HOEKSTRA1 [RandyH] at 23:00 EDT I have had my Falcon for nearly two months now and although I really like it and I am impressed with all its potential, there are two things keeping me from making the Falcon my main system (I still use the Mega more than the Falcon). They are: 1. Aladdin doesn't work on the Falcon 2. I can't use my SLM804 with the Falcon The first one I am well aware of what's going on from all the discussions here. The second I haven't heard any info on lately. Is anyone working on or planning to work on a device that will allow the SLM804 to work with the Falcon? Based on past performance, I think ICD would be the best ones to tackle this. I sent them mail to see if there was any possibility they would be doing something. Anyone else have any info on this subject? Thanks, Randy PS: I also understand there is a problem hooking up SCSI hard drives with an AdSCSI still attached. Is this true and is there anything that can be done about it? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 5 Sun Sep 12, 1993 AEO.5 [Ed Krimen] at 01:30 EDT Sam, .Z files are Unix compressed files. With compress.ttp, use "-d file.Z". I think that's the syntax. For uuencode and decode, use ESSCODE from Michel Forget. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 6 Sun Sep 12, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 03:04 EDT Randy, I, like you, bought my Falcon about two months ago. I also depend on my SLM804 for my printing needs, and quite frankly am beginning to doubt that there will EVER be a way to merge the two of them. With apparently less than 1000 Falcons sold and no concerted 'push' from Atari, I'm beginning to wonder if there will EVER be any software developed for it! I mean, what incentive would a developer have? My Falcon sits idly in the corner of my studio, while my 'souped-up' 1040ST occupies 99% of my computer time. After a month of staring at TruePaint graphics and realizing that AtariWorks seems kind of neat but I can't PRINT anything, the novelty is wearing thin! After the long, long, LONG wait for the Falcon, all anyone wants to talk about is a 'game' computer. I'm not much of a computer game buff, but we should be so lucky as to have ANY games for the Falcon! Maybe the only solution is to buy another laser printer, or invest in Falcon Speed to gain access to a decent software base. Or maybe, heaven forbid, I should have just invested in a 'clone' instead. 'Potential' only goes so far... Anyway, I appreciated your post and certainly sympathize with your situation. LONG LIVE THE ST! Mark Stefani ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 7 Sun Sep 12, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 13:25 EDT Randy, Atari says they're working someone to get the SLM problem fixed. I doubt that many people know about the Falcon other than current Atari owners, so that limits the market. They won't sell many without a market, and there will be little incentive to do something about the SLM situation, since the number of Falcon owners with SLMs is indeed small. I'm getting a Falcon in a week or two, but will keep it at work to replace a 2.5 meg 520ST with only a floppy drive and will also use it as a "portable" ST when I go to Florida for two weeks or something like that. I'll keep my Mega STE hooked up to the SLM at home, and can use Sneaker LAN between the two. All, I've decided to go with SVGA. Does anyone have a Best Buy monitor to recommend? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 8 Sun Sep 12, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 13:52 EDT Ken: The absolute best monitor I've seen (for the price) is the AcerView 56L, 15" SVGA monitor with all the features, deguassing, digital positioning controls, non-reflective almost flat screen, low radiation, and an incredible display. I don't have a recent price on it, but I paid around $500 (I think). Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 9 Sun Sep 12, 1993 ST.LOU [Lou] at 14:08 EDT Ken, I really like the AAMAZING 1428. It should be less than 300.00 US. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 10 Sun Sep 12, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 18:52 EDT I like the ADI MicroScan 4, at about $430. 15-inch flat screen. It's used by Dell for their OEM top-of-the-line monitors. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 11 Sun Sep 12, 1993 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 21:38 EDT Randy - The Falcon will ignore a hard drive with adSCSI but that is not such a problem. First off, your adSCSI is probably connected with a DMA port which the Falcon can't use anyway, you need a SCSI II connector, so you can manually unplug your adSCSI board and use the drive with the falcon, or if you want to switch back and forth between different computers you can just stick a little toggle switch on the adSCSI power and turn your adSCSI board on and off depending on whether you are plugged into a Falcon SCSI II cable or are going DMA to a ST. Try it, it works! =-= Grouch (:{ =-= Mark - I too have a Falcon that is not as productive as it could be. I use the old ST for Aladdin and connecting to GEnie. Flash II is soon to be Falcon compatable and I am sure GEnie won't be left behind. Now that Compuserve is going 14.4 GEnie may even speed up a little. Lots of good things are coming down the pike for the Falcon. Just think of your self as a pioneer. There are strugles and privations, sure. But you are one of the first. That should be worth something. I have hope, and I'm just a =-= Grouch (:{ =-= ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 12 Mon Sep 13, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 00:23 EDT Grouch, I'm impressed with your optimism about good things becoming available for the Falcon. With so few Falcons sold and Atari's shift in focus to the Jaguar, I can't be the only skeptical 'pioneer' out there! Mark ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 13 Mon Sep 13, 1993 J.RENNER1 [Kheldar] at 00:32 EDT Ken Van, The Viewsonic 6FS is a 15" digital control montior. It is another good choice in the 15" range. For the falcon i would recommend something with digital control so you can size the different rez. and let the monitor remember your settings. Jim. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 14 Mon Sep 13, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:34 EDT Thanks Sean, Lou, Al, and Jim. Such a lot of help, and four different opinions! I'll check them out. I was a little worried my question might be considered off-topic, but I needed to know this to be able to use the Falcon I'm getting. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 15 Mon Sep 13, 1993 J.NESS [Jim] at 17:07 EDT Sean - The 56L is commonly around $469 at Best Buy stores. I've had my eye on one, but haven't figured out how to justify jumping from a 14" to 15", and spending that kind of cash. -JN ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 16 Mon Sep 13, 1993 R.NOAK at 21:57 EDT Jim, One of the problems is that most 14" and 15" monitors use the same tube and have the same size usable display. _Real_ hard to justify that. ;-( Randy @ Southlake, Inc. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 17 Mon Sep 13, 1993 R.HOEKSTRA1 [RandyH] at 22:34 EDT As you all probably guessed, the reply back from ICD indicates they have no plans for doing a SCSI to DMA converter. I too am beginning to have my doubts that one will ever be done. Is the SLM804 even being made anymore? Okay, the next best thing is to have the SLM804 hooked to the Mega and some kind of network connection between the Falcon and Mega. I have a MIDI connection doing this now (LittleNET), but it is a bit slow and it causes problems when switching video modes. I heard something was coming from TOAD. Anyone hear any details? This would work good too because I can leave the 130 Meg drive on the Mega with all the data and just put applications on the Falcon 84 Meg. Of course, it needs to be reasonably priced as well. Grouch - thanks for the tip on the adSCSI. I'll keep it in mind if I end up moving the drive back and forth. I know this kind of stuff gets depressing sometimes, but I've been using Ataris since 1980 and just can't see myself using anything else (hey, I HAVE to use IBMs and MACs at work, so I prefer to have choice when I get home). I guess it's the price we pay for sticking with the 'little' guys. Lastly, I have an AcerView 34T UltraVGA (14") and I think it is really nice. I haven't seen much else so I don't know how it compares with anything else. I also purchased it with the Falcon as a package deal, so I don't know what it costs. Boy!, wasn't that an informative bit of info. :-) RandyH ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 18 Mon Sep 13, 1993 K.BURKENHEIM at 23:37 EDT I am using a syquest 44 with a fixed hard drive(65meg) connected to an ICD host adaptor. I have installed a switch in the back of the case that turns off the ICD host adaptor. The hard drives are connected to BOTH my Falcon and my Mega 4. If the switch is up the Falcon recognizes it. If the switch is down, the Mega 4 recognizes it. That way I have both on the same hard drives (not counting the one in the Falcon) and they can _both_ run at the same time and even share files without a slow network. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 19 Tue Sep 14, 1993 J.RENNER1 [Kheldar] at 00:51 EDT Randy, The only REAL reason I recommended the 15" flat screen was the digital sizing. If the Falcon is anything like Windows the ability to store the proper horz. and vert. sizing for each resolution is a God send. Jim. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 20 Tue Sep 14, 1993 AEO.1 [Albert Dayes] at 01:32 EDT RandyH, PowerNet allows one to network a Falcon/ST/STE/TTs together. Ron Robinson has a setup with a similar configuration. You can contact him at EXPLORER.1. -- Albert ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 21 Tue Sep 14, 1993 ICDINC at 10:25 EDT K.Burkenheim, I am not sure I would recommend that setup to our customers but hey, if it works.... - TOM - ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 23 Tue Sep 14, 1993 D.PHILLIPS24 [Darcy] at 23:10 EDT Mark, I'm afraid I have to cast my vote here as a "skeptical 'pioneer'", too. Things seem to have gotten pretty quiet about the bird these days- makes me feel like maybe I better just hold off for a while to see what happens. I suppose if I could see some pro digital audio software in operation it might make me feel better. Don't know what the chances of that are though. Heavy sigh. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 24 Wed Sep 15, 1993 R.LUNSFORD2 at 02:41 EDT I'm kind of skecptical about the Falcon's future as well, but I'm pretty happy with mine...I'm a *serious* musician that just doesn't have the desire to go pro (and starve along the way) before getting some other way to support myself...I play guitar (and a little keyboard), and even the demo version of D2D has given me a lot of capability as far as getting *all* of my ideas onto tape (in one, coherent form). I can't justify buying anything like a 4-track recorder by itself, but the computer just happening to have better capabilites, I can justify. I would like to upgrade to the full version of D2D, or something equivalent, so I could get seperate track capabilities, but I don't have the hard disk space for all those tracks anyway..:) So if the falcon flops, I'll still be happy....Least I can still get D2D pro and a bigger hard disk. And I can still program and use the word processor... Russ ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 25 Wed Sep 15, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 02:55 EDT Darcy, If you're lucky enough to SEE some pro audio software displayed on a Falcon, don't hesitate to post your observations. My local dealer says D2D (the commercial package) is available, but the only way I can see the program is to 'special order' it! Digital recording is a major reason that I bought the Falcon. I also do a lot of DTP work, but not being able to utilize my SLM804 renders the bird almost useless. Hopefully, we'll see some software soon just to rationalize buying one. ANY software! EVEN a game!! MCH ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 26 Wed Sep 15, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 06:22 EDT Jim, I never heard of Best Buy until I saw their insert in the Sunday paper this week. They have a 56L advertised, but I don't have the ad here. I think it was around $480. Randy, Thanks. All, I have a Falcon ordered at my local dealer, and don't really care if I don't get it before November, but they get them in so intermittently I wasn't sure I should wait until the next order. They seem to sell them as fast as they get them, but never have any in stock for long. If there's that much demand, I don't know why Atari can't keep them supplied, so they have stock. Are all dealers on this kind of binge and purge cycle? Also, will a networked Falcon recognize a hard drive with the ICD host adaptor? Ken ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 27 Wed Sep 15, 1993 B.STOREY [Billy B.] at 06:31 EDT Jim, "Haven't figured out how to justify...." Because you WANT to! Billy B. ----------- K. (Ken?) Burkenheim, can you do some sort of ASCII sketch of that switch connection? That sounds like the slickest solution of all! Billy B. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 28 Wed Sep 15, 1993 M.DRYSDALE [Drys] at 06:48 EDT K. Burkenehim >I have installed a switch in the back of the case that turns off >the ICD host adaptor. The hard drives are connected to BOTH my Falcon and my >Mega 4. That way they can _both_ run at the same time and >even share files without a slow network. Please tell me you don't do this with both computers ON and switching drive access. You FATs are gonna get clobbered and ALL your data will be lost. Mike, GenTech and POWER Computers ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 29 Wed Sep 15, 1993 S.WINICK at 07:32 EDT Darcy, Steinberg-Jones should begin shipping Cubase Audio for the Falcon in about a month or so. That should satisfy just about anyone's desires for professional digital audio software. By the way, Steinberg-Jones is currently offering a 50% off trade-up to Cubase sale right now. The offer is available through authorized dealerships. Check with the dealer of your choice or drop me E-mail for complete details if you're interested. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 30 Wed Sep 15, 1993 J.NESS [Jim] at 19:52 EDT Ken Van - You have to watch Best Buy carefully, then jump on a good price when you find it. They agressively price-match, and prices will go up or down daily, on electronics. In the Chicago area, where you'll have Best Buy, Silo, Circuit City, Service Merchandise and CompUSA all within a block of each other, the employees actually walk into each others' stores to check prices. -JN ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 31 Thu Sep 16, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 00:24 EDT Does anyone have the pin layout for the DSP port? The manual tells you the pin #s but no where they go.. any help would be GREAt.. Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 32 Thu Sep 16, 1993 M.DRYSDALE [Drys] at 06:39 EDT Ken Van - >If there's that much demand, I >don't know why Atari can't keep them supplied, so they have stock. Are all >dealers on this kind of binge and purge cycle? LOL! That is so accurate. We'll have to start the AOBA - Atari Owners and Bulimics Anon. Mike, GenTech and POWER Computers ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 33 Thu Sep 16, 1993 B.STOREY [Billy B.] at 07:03 EDT MCH, Ken, there is a little program called Little Net, which I use to network an ST with an STe. I just tell the program which drive on the other machine to access, and I get the directory. I can then do all the same things remotely as I can directly, altho a good deal slower. The midi connections seem to work about the same speed as a floppy drive. I don't know, but I think LittleNet should work with a Falcon. You could just connect the midi ports of the Falcon to the midi ports of your old ST and still use your old printer. LittleNet is in the library. There are other network programs available, but I haven't tried them. Billy B. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 34 Fri Sep 17, 1993 C.ROUNTREE2 [RoadKill] at 00:39 EDT I don't like to be a doom sayer, but the Falcon is starting to sync in my mind to the words: Apple III. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 35 Fri Sep 17, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 01:03 EDT DSP pins: ========= # Signal Description === ====== ==================================== 1 GP0 2 GP1 These three, General purpose I/O 3 GP3 4 P_DATA 5 P_CLK These three, External Serial output 6 P_SYNC 7 n/c 8 GND As are 10, 14, 16, 18, 25 9 +12v As is 17 (300ma Maximum) 11 SC0 DSP SSI, Receive clock 12 SC1 DSP SSI, Receive sync 13 SC2 DSP SSI, Transmit sync 15 SRD DSP SSI, Receive data 19 R_DATA 20 R_CLK These three, External serial input 21 R_SYNC 22 EXT_INT General purpose interrupt input 23 STD DSP SSI, Transmit data 24 SCK DSP SSI, Transmit clock 26 EX_CLK External master clock =========================================================== -------------> Sam ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 36 Fri Sep 17, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:30 EDT Jim, Thanks for the tip. Mike, :^) Billy B., Thanks. I'll give it a try. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 37 Fri Sep 17, 1993 JKUEHN [John] at 22:17 EDT K.BURKENHEIM, How are the signal cables routed in your configuration? Are both the Falcon and Mega connected to the standard DMA cable? or Is the Falcon connected to the 50 pin SCSI cable and Mega via the DMA? or Are both connected via the SCSI? Which AdSCSI power lines are you switching +5, +12 or both? And what about SCSI terminators in your configuration? Thanks John k. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 38 Sat Sep 18, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 00:38 EDT Does anyone know of a digital interface for the Falcon? I want to do some serious Hard Disk Recording. I also need some software. Any suggestion? Also is there a convenient way to back-up a large hard drive (1.6 gigs) to tape? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 39 Sat Sep 18, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 01:04 EDT Spud : Check with Digital IO, there are a couple. As for Software, Cubase Falcon Audio is slated for "this fall". Steinberg has a 24hour free fax line if you want info, or they ae in the midi bb.. Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 40 Sat Sep 18, 1993 S.WINICK at 06:44 EDT Spud Boy, Cubase Audio for the Falcon is currently in final Beta testing and is scheduled for release sometime next month (give or take ;-). You will certainly also need a fast SCSI-2 external hard drive for your digital recording. Keep in mind that at roughly 11mb per minute of recording, you'll need a LARGE hard drive out there to store your musical creations. You might want to consider having a tape backup built right into that external hard drive unit also, since backing up your work should be done on a regular basis. If you partition the hard drive with partitions the same size as the maximum capacity of the tape backup, that will make the back-up process a much simpler task. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 41 Sat Sep 18, 1993 PRESS-13 [Glendale] at 18:01 EDT Hello all! Here at the Glendale show. Lots of great Falcon stuff here! Really cool! Talk to you soon! James ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 42 Sun Sep 19, 1993 B.SEMAAN [BOSEM] at 09:34 EDT I just received my developer's falcon last week, primarily for software/hardware development in semi-pro to pro level audio. Anyway, wouldn't you know that the analog audio output does not work. I can get only one channel output from the headphone out jack. The patch cord checked out ok, and I even tried another one to be sure. I then rigged a 1/8" stereo plug onto a set of test leads and checked for signal voltage and confirmed that indeed only one channel was getting a signal thru the phones jack. When I spoke with J. at Atari on Friday night he told me there had been some problems with this sort of thing on the falcon and I could send it back for repair. I'd like to know if anyone else has had this problem and if so, what their experience was with it before I send my machine all the way back to Calif. I could have pressed J. for more information but he has strep throat and it was obvious to me that he was in bad shape (if you've ever had strep throat you know what its like). -Bob ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 43 Sun Sep 19, 1993 AEO.7 [Gregg] at 19:12 EDT We had a similar problem on one unit, where one channel of the output jack just wasn't there. We found that by 'twisting' the jack it would come and go and decided it was a lose connection inside the jack. We then opened the beast up to 'tighten' the the thing up and found it was pretty much a 'sealed' unit, no adjusting possible. But after putting it back together it worked fine from then on... maybe we scared it to death? I don't know..... but I'd sugget you go ahead and send your's back to your contact at Atari and have them take care of it asap.... especially if you really need the full stereo output for your work. Every time I listen to the Falcon's audio output I get a little more impressed than I started out at. Gregg ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 44 Mon Sep 20, 1993 STEVE-J [Steve @ NLS] at 05:42 EDT B.SEMAAN - I've heard of several Falcon030s having that problem with the audio output. I think one of Lexicor's machines had that problem. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 45 Mon Sep 20, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 18:27 EDT It guess this is where I step in and say that neither my Falcon nor Tim's Falcon (P-DIRECT2) have had any sort of audio problem. Unless you call 4- channel CD quality stereo being put out by an Atari to be a problem... :) Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 46 Mon Sep 20, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 22:05 EDT Thanks, Where can I get a hold of Digital IO? This is a company right? Sheldon, What software will use tape back-up units for Atari? I had heard that Diamond Back III was going to have this capability, but it has not been released yet (as far as I know). ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 47 Tue Sep 21, 1993 C.ROUNTREE2 [RoadKill] at 02:04 EDT Bob: I've heard of that problem. I think it's only some badly soldered wires, but don't take my word for it. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 48 Tue Sep 21, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 02:56 EDT Spud Boy: I saw Diamond Back III at the Glendale show, and it looked extraordinary. I also saw the Falcon version of VideoMaster, the real-time frame grabber/stereo sampler (dist. by Oregon Research). Looked really great, with some fantastic video/sound editing features. James BTW, DBIII is not out yet. It is still forthcoming, but looked mostly finished. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 49 Tue Sep 21, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 18:32 EDT Spud, ICD has tape-backup software for the Atari. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 50 Tue Sep 21, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 20:26 EDT Videomaster? please tell more....... curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 51 Tue Sep 21, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 22:14 EDT I have a question. Does anyone use Paula to play mods on their Falcon? If I use Paula the internal speaker plays one channel and the external speakers play the other. (I am assuming that there are only two channels in a mod). I am getting sound out of both speakers. I would like to have everything on the external speakers and nothing on the internal speaker. If I turn off the internal speaker it doesn't change the routing of the sounds. Has anyone else had this problem? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 52 Wed Sep 22, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 01:38 EDT Spud Boy: RE mods, I'm using something called FalconPlay. It plays the mod at a simulated 50khz. It uses the same routines as found in most of the really great Falcon demos. Plus, it is a TTP, so you can install it and then just double-click on mods for the rest of your life. It really is the best so far on a Falcon. Curt: VideoMaster. Yes. Very neat. I had a certain sum of money with me at the show. It's not important how much. But after spending it all, I happened by the Oregon Research booth, and where there had once been the stunning Diamond Back III, there was this amazing looking screen, with full-motion, 256 color images flipping by, and dozens of little control gadgets and editing features. Below the image was the sound track, displayed in that "way" that samplers have -- very pointy and nifty looking. The tour I was given of this thing, the VideoMaster, impressed me greatly. The one they were demoing was the new, still in beta Falcon version, shipped over from somewhere in Europe for the show. It has some incredible features. The release version for the Falcon is apparently going to feature 640x480 capturing, with lots of color options (true-color was mentioned). The audio end looked great, almost as full- featured as your basic sampler software. Then there was the editing. Merging the sound with the video, and all. Really impressive, especially for under $200. ANyway, the point is, I would have bought the existing version which will still do 256 color images (just not as many ways to as the Falcon specific version) but I was out of dosh. My pockets were empty (actually, I had one [1] dollar left). So I guess we'll have to wait for Oregon Research to fill us in. James ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 53 Wed Sep 22, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:40 EDT OK. I understand an SVGA monitor supports all resolutions except True-Color, but people keep talking about True-Color as if it's the livin' end. What monitor shows it, and is that a better choice than SVGA? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 54 Wed Sep 22, 1993 D.FREELAND [SAXMAN] at 07:54 EDT Ken, SVGA monitors support all the standard Falcon resolutions. Including True Color. It just won't interlace. I beleive the TC resolution is 320X480 on a SVGA monitor. About any VGA monitor will work just fine but if you want to use the Screen Blaster, the higher the Hor and Ver frequencies, the more resolutions you can display. David ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 55 Wed Sep 22, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] at 09:55 EDT I *DID* purchase Videomaster...and then I quickly returned it when I realized that the only way it can do color captures is with 3 separate passes utilizing colored filters over the lens of a video camera. Since I don't even own a video camera, and would be doing all my captures from cable TV or VCR tapes, I would have been limited to monochrome images a la Vidi-ST. I decided to wait for the WIZZMASTER cartridge which will do TRUE COLOR captures from any source without need for filters. The WIZZMASTERS were at the Glendale show but their prototype cartridge was broken. Nevertheless they do expect to be selling it very soon. The price will be steep though, upwards of $350 depending on RAM prices (it has 4 megs of onboard RAM.) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 56 Wed Sep 22, 1993 K.BURKENHEIM at 22:18 EDT My hard drives are hooked up with 2 separate cables: SCSI and ICD interface. The switch only controls the power supply for the ICD interface. I _do_ use both computers at the same time. I do not try to access the hard drive at the same time. One will be using the MIDI for music while I am typing to you on the other. Sometimes I may be doing a large download and I also use my 800 at the same time (they are all within 6 feet of each other) they all are in perfect working order too. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 57 Thu Sep 23, 1993 ICDINC at 09:16 EDT The ICD host only uses 5 volts DC. So a switch would break the 5 volt supply line. - TOM - ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 58 Thu Sep 23, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 21:15 EDT wow, so Ill have choices on video software?? This is good. If it does a lot $350 isnt so bad (I sell midi software, $999, now thats bad) Please share any info on any of these products!! and on a sad not, GEnie started a multimedia bb, supporting IBM, MAC, and Amiga..................... Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 59 Fri Sep 24, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 18:46 EDT I would like to re-partition the internal HD in my Falcon 030. When I use the Atari HDX program it only offers me a little over 81 megs as an option wheras the drive currently has 84. I tried running three other formatting programs but none of them could read the boot sector properly. Any suggestions? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 60 Fri Sep 24, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 21:38 EDT Flakes, Can you use ICD software on the Falcon? That's my suggestion. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 61 Sat Sep 25, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 00:17 EDT (Grovel/Beg mode on) Yo, Atari Guys, specifically, Bill Rehbock perhaps? You guys HAD to use SOMETHING to design the Multicolored Animated 3D Icons that I use on My Falcon, right? Well, since no one else seems to be doing it, could you please release your Icon editor to the public (No warranties, etc. etc...) so that we can customise our systems a bit? The ones included in the system were good, but I personally would like to make some that are more application specific.... Anyone got a Fax machine Icon laying around????? (Etc...) PLEASE! ----------------> Sam (Grovel/Beg mode off) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 62 Sat Sep 25, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 09:30 EDT ICD would be my first choice, but I think their software only works if you have their hardware on your HD. Otherwise you get a message that the Host Adapter isn't installed. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 63 Sat Sep 25, 1993 B.GOCKLEY [Brian G.] at 09:57 EDT Sam-Rapp, The Newdesk Icon Editor from SDS is being upgraded to handle color icons, I've no idea of the release date though. The old version was a CPX and had all the features you could need, the color version is supposed to be a program. Brian G. @ ST Informer Magazine /exit ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 64 Sat Sep 25, 1993 K.BURKENHEIM at 13:40 EDT The new ICD utilities are a separate entity. They operate without an ICD host adaptor. Of course, they are _sold_ at any ATARI dealer. They also do not need an ICD host adaptor to work. /s ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 65 Sat Sep 25, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 18:56 EDT Sam : There is a German company that makes an icon editor called Zoom. I have a demo for it and it looks great!! Edit 256 color icons. Unfortunately being a demo it doesn't save , and Im not sure if it has an American distributer... Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 66 Sun Sep 26, 1993 S.WINICK at 06:34 EDT Flakes, >> I would like to re-partition the internal HD in my Falcon 030. >> When I use the Atari HDX program it only offers me a little over >> 81 megs as an option wheras the drive currently has 84. Hard drive sizes, and floppy diskette sizes as well, are typically specifice in an "unformatted" size. I'm sure someone more technically minded than I can explain this in more detail if you're interested. But in general, the actual formatted size is dependent upon the number of tracks and sectors that are set up in the formatting process. Just like a 2mb floppy typically formats out to 1.44mb, and a 1mb floppy typically formats out to 720k, most hard drives will rarely format out to their full unformatted capacity listed in the specifications. Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 67 Sun Sep 26, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 14:08 EDT Ken Van, ICD Pro software works without an ICD host adaptor. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 68 Sun Sep 26, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 15:54 EDT Thanks for the info on ICD utilities. I'll look into them for the Falcon. I have the old ones for my external drive on the Mega STE. I wonder if they have an upgrade deal. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 69 Sun Sep 26, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 19:07 EDT Anyone know of a good place to get 1x32x4meg simms for the wizztronics ram board? I saw an add for $129 in Mac World. Also what is the fastest speed simms that the Falcon can make use of? By the way, The Wizztronics board lets you buy 1 4meg simm and use it and buy 3 more later for 16megs, where as the other boards require either 4 1meg simms, or 4 4meg simms. Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 70 Mon Sep 27, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 00:15 EDT <> I agree! We need more ICONS! B man, So are you saying with the Wizztronics board you can go from 4 to 8 megs at one step and then 16 later? Where do I get one? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 71 Mon Sep 27, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:06 EDT Spud Boy, I distinctly heard Sam say, "...buy 1 4meg simm and use it and buy 3 more later for 16megs...", not 1 or 2 more. What I'd like to know is what the 4-meg Falcon comes with, 1s or 4s. Do you just buy the board and 3 simms when you're ready? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 72 Mon Sep 27, 1993 C.OINES1 [Chazz] at 07:10 EDT No, he's saying you can buy one now, and then three later. (Looking at the same board...) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 73 Mon Sep 27, 1993 ERIC.SMITH [Eric Smith] at 16:29 EDT Sam: We use Interface (available from Shift Gmbh, a German company) and the new version of the Atari Resource Construction Program (which will be available soon with the Atari developer's kit) to do 3D icons. Both of these are commercial products. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 74 Mon Sep 27, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 22:34 EDT Ken, You can't use the 4megs that comes with the F030! There is a replacement board for $89 (Midcities computer) that allows Simms to be used. 1 4Meg simm for 4Megs OR four 4Meg simms for 16Meg, No 8 or 12 Meg allowed. You save money by not buying 4 1Meg simms, then having to buy 4 4Meg simms when you want to go to 16meg. Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 75 Mon Sep 27, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 23:09 EDT Ken, I guess I was mincing words... I was trying to find out if the Wizztronics Board could take a 4 meg "stock" Falcon to 8 megs by getting a single 4 meg simm and mounting it on the board. Then later buy two more 4 meg simms for a total of 16. I am not sure either, but I am interested. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 76 Mon Sep 27, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 23:45 EDT Sounds like the simm thing is cleared up. Thanks. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 77 Tue Sep 28, 1993 T.KELLY12 at 00:27 EDT I just received a new falcon for use at my office and have been trying it out. I was on a tight budget so I am using an SM124 monitor with it right now. The SM124 display does not seem to be nearly as steady with the falcon as it was with my old 520. I'm used to no noticeable flicker or wavering of the screen, but with the falcon the SM124 has some minor distortion when it displays the grey desktop and there is a small waver to the image that is distracting. I put on the noise filter that came with the adaptor for atari monitors and that did help a little, but the display simply is not as good as it is with the 520. Does anyone know if this is normal for the falcon and the SM124 or should I be having the falcon checked out? Also, I've noticed that Word Perfect has a few quirks on the Falcon. It will not relinquish control to a desk accessory and when switching between two documents goes into a frenetic back and forth fronting of the windows. I am using the August 18, 1989 version of the program, which I believe came out before the TT, and I know there was another maintenance update to WP in 1991 that was supposed to work better with the TT. Does anyone use that version on the falcon, and if so does it behave normally? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 78 Tue Sep 28, 1993 T.HORNIG [Thomas] at 01:42 EDT T Kelly I have/had the same problem with WordPerfect. If you run WP in 16 color mode it works more steady but you still can't see the position at the bottom screen. If you use Geneva though in 16 color mode it works fine. The only thing is you still won't be able to change the screen colors since there's something very wrong with Xcontrol. I get a FILE NOT FOUND when I'm trying to access Xcontrol out of various programs like Ataris own Breakout which comes with the falcon. It's not a memory thing since I got 14megs in my falcon. thomas ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 79 Tue Sep 28, 1993 AEO.7 [Gregg] at 19:59 EDT I wonder..... There are a few (still VERY expensive) 16 Meg SIMMs being advertised in the magazines. I wonder how difficult it would be to have or modify a Falcon RAM board to accept them. Could the Falcon recognise RAM past 16Meg? Just think of it.... a 64Meg Falcon... Gregg ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 80 Tue Sep 28, 1993 T.HORNIG [Thomas] at 23:51 EDT Greg, There is a german made accelerator board for the falcon that can give you up to 256 meg of tt ram it should be out here soon. You would have to get an external keyboard though thomas ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 81 Wed Sep 29, 1993 R.BUSH [Richard Bush] at 03:28 EDT T.KELLY Give up on Word Perfect. You can get the windows to stabilize by reinstalling from your master disks (sometimes) so they don't flicker back and forth when you attempt to change documents, however... Other problems include the loss of the status bar at the bottom of the window and garbage inserted in the document at random times when you access the menu bar. I've tried it under Geneva in 16 colors and I see no difference-- it's still flakey. I recomend you switch to That's Write or Calligrapher. I know you said you were on a budget. I am too. That's why I'm still using Works which is a fine program, but not a powerful word processor. I'm going to switch to That's Write as soon as I get the money. You might try Marcel and Works as a combination you might find helpful. I too have the August '89 update. I'm told that the '91 version is only a little better. Because of the loss of Word Perfect and Aladdin I sometimes wonder if the Falcon was a good choice for me. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 82 Wed Sep 29, 1993 STEVE-J [Steve @ NLS] at 04:39 EDT AEO.7 - Since the Falcon030's built-in RAM only has a 24-bit address space, it couldn't recognize any RAM past 16MB without making a new, 32-bit RAM bus directly to the 68030 (which is something that's already been addressed -- pun intended -- if you have $500 or so extra to spend). ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 83 Wed Sep 29, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:54 EDT T.Kelly, An occasional paragraph break would make your messages easier to read. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 84 Wed Sep 29, 1993 AEO.7 [Gregg] at 19:51 EDT Thanks Steve & gang.... I'd forgotten about the address bus limitation (24 vs 32 bit). Yes, an 'add on' turbo board WITH internal 32-bit (TT style) RAM would solve that limitation (like 16 Meg is a major limitation?).. This board sounds like something you'd want to use when moving your Bird to a separate 'minitower' case.... then you getthe best of both worlds, assuming you can get your hands on a spare TT/Mega keyboard. Gregg ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 85 Wed Sep 29, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 21:50 EDT Mark, This is my first time on GENie and I too have just purchased a Falcon and found out about Aladdin not working on the Falcon, but again... heard a fix is on the way. I believe that there are more than a 1000 Falcons sold in the US alone. Even though the turn out was smaller this year at Glendale, I saw alot of people walking out the door with a Falcon in tow, to include myself. I'll patiently wait to see what comes out for the Falcon, and from all the talk/reviews in the Europeon Magazines, it looks like some interesting stuff is about to cross the Alantic, not to mention what is being developed here. Along the same subject, with the features jampacked into the Falcon, it's the best deal on the market! I had shopped around looking at mac's and clowns for nearly 3 months comparing features and pricing. I had dropped the mac idea when I saw the prices on their machines, not to mention the price on the software and third party peripherals. Being in the Air Force and having the additional duty as Computer Systems Security Monitor for our work place and to insure or LAN network stays up and running along with trouble shooting (and there's alot of that!) I had come to the conclusion with DOS 6.0 and Windows 3.1 that the machine was not what I would want to come home to also. Granted, software is readily available anywhere for it, but the quality of the software is few and in between. I am happy with the Falcon030 as is right now, and I'd like also to see more software developed to take FULL advantage of the capiblities that the Falcon offers. Have a good day! Ken, On the subject of a monitor selection, I got a combo deal from Mid-Cities in BelFlower, Ca. They have 2 montiors along the same lines. They are Multiscan monitors 14" and can display all the ST and Falcon resolutions, plus more. I know I am suppose to know the refresh rate, but I am uncertain, but they are capable of displaying 1024*768, 1024*960 I do believe. Call them and ask about their Orchestra Trumpet Brass series monitors. They are the cheapest and best quality multiscan color monitors that I have seen. SAM-RAPP (Sam) I too am looking for a 'COLOR' Falcon compatable 'ICON JUGGLER' clone. Any info on this yet? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 86 Wed Sep 29, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:24 EDT Rodney: SDS software is working on updating their icon editor CPX. They have to do it as a program, though, so a complete rewrite is necessary. Look for it before Christmas (so SDS says). ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 87 Thu Sep 30, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 00:03 EDT Also see the SDS RTC on 25th Nov 93. ~~Brian..Written on Thursday 30 September 1993 at 01:02 a.m. ADT ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 88 Thu Sep 30, 1993 S.WINICK at 04:59 EDT Gregg, >> .... assuming you can get your hands on a spare TT/Mega keyboard. Seems to me we have several of those sitting around in the parts department. ;-) Sheldon (Computer STudio - Asheville, NC) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 89 Thu Sep 30, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 08:20 EDT Calligrapher is the most powerful word processor the the Atari line, and I recommend it highly. As a writer and editor, I find it is very, very solid. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 90 Thu Sep 30, 1993 K.BURKENHEIM at 21:27 EDT Part of the reason for the light turnout at the Glendale show was the Date of the Show, and the set up date. John forgot to check his religious calander, causing a conflict with some of his possible exibitors and attendees. I have found several people who didn't come for that reason! Another problem with the Falcon: If you use Warp 9 and the Screen blaster- you will find they are _not_ compatible with each other. That applies to most text readers also -- including the new "scrolling thunder" -- sigh. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 91 Thu Sep 30, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:20 EDT Burkenheim: Stop sighing about "scrolling thunder." Warp 9 and MasterBrowse work fantastic together. MasterBrowse has ten times more features than "scrolling thunder" too. It really looks fantstic on the Falcon. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 92 Thu Sep 30, 1993 T.KELLY12 at 23:45 EDT I seem to be getting conflicting advice on Word Perfect with the falcon. Thomas, do you get some of the garbage, e.g. characters that just appear when accessing some of the menus, as Richard and I seem to get or does word perfect behave normally? I hate to give up Word Perfect if a combination of the 1991 update and Geneva stabilize the program. Works is a good basic word processor, and I can use it for a lot of things, but it doesn't make it for scholarly documents. Minus the garbage, Word Perfect seems to be quite speedy on the falcon. I did check out the Calligrapher demo, but found the screen fonts too hard to read to use it as my basic word processor, (for some reason a twelve point font in Calligrapher is decidedly smaller than any other graphic oriented word processor I've seen) and the third of the screen scrolling bothered me. That's Write was much easier on the eyes, but the demo was quite slow at reformating a paragraph. Has anyone out there found a stable configuration for Word Perfect and the falcon.? Terry Kelly ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 93 Fri Oct 01, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 00:22 EDT Hi James, Thanks for the information on SDS's Icon Editor for the Falcon! I'm looking forward to it! The Deskicon.rsc that came with the Falcon is nice, but limited. I could sure use more colorful/3d icons. Everytime I come home from work after messing around on their clowns, I turn on the Falcon and am glad I invested into it! It's a fantastic machine for almost anything you can do on a computer. Rodney --- K. Burkenheim, I heard that J&J computers is selling the Screen Blaster with NVDI as a combo deal. Not sure on the price. But has anyone used or heard of NVDI with the Falcon? I'd like to know if NVDI is simular or better than Warp 9 along the compatablity with Screen Blaster and Software. Does NVDI support true color modes? Rodney ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 94 Fri Oct 01, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 04:47 EDT Rodney: I love the Falcon, too. Now that it has some essentials installed on it (at last) like Warp 9 (great fonts and screen-savers, as well as the awesome screen speedup) and MasterBrowse (a man-featured replacement for the TOS "Show" function ^---- read "many") I am gettting to do some real work with it. I don't know if NVDI is faster than Warp 9, nor do I know if it supports true-color modes ( Warp 9 does not). Warp 9 really has changed the way I think about my Falcon. It changed the way I thought about my 520 STe, too. So far, Warp 9 on my Falcon hasn't conflicted with anything. Although, I noticed that there is a REAL weird effect present when dragging files with the Universal Item Selector. The "ghost" of the file leave a little trail of itself. Goes away with a screen update, but weird. J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 95 Fri Oct 01, 1993 B.STOREY [Billy B.] at 06:27 EDT Hi, Rodney! uuuh, just a tip from a buddy! You aren't supposed to say anything GOOD about Falcons here. It just isn't done. (Not very often, anyway.) Billy B. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 96 Fri Oct 01, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:55 EDT "John forgot to check his religious calendar" One would have to very involved with another religion to miss worshipping at the Shrine of Atari. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 97 Fri Oct 01, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 08:27 EDT MasterBrowse is very nice, but I will not use a text reader that does not support the common, accepted, universal method of selecting blocks of text. Rodney, NVDI supports all the color modes, as far as I know. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 98 Sat Oct 02, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 02:15 EDT James Kracht, I noticed the 'ghost' effect also, but this occurs normally when in 256 color mode (40 or 80). Yep, Warp 9 makes the Falcon more enjoyable. The speed increase is really needed. I had thought the Falcon to be somewhat slower at times compared to my Mega ST2 with Adspeed by ICD. But Warp 9 fixed that problem. I hope CodeHeads continue development on it to work in True Color. --- Billy B.! How's it going! I took your tip and joined in on GENie as you can see... now you gonna pay my first months bill? :-}. I setup Aladdin on the Mega ST and set it to get 2 weeks of past messages and files, so I guess I messed that complaining on the Falcon's. I haven't got any so far... I like to see it run alittle faster say around 25Mhz or so, but that's another upgrade at a later date... I gotta feeling that I may of bought the machine alittle to early, just as I did when the 800 replaced the 400 then about a year afterwords the 800Xl came out, then 130Xe... at about 80% less cost wise than my 800! But hey... if they sell upgrades... I'll stay right with them.. How was the vacation! --- Al, Thanks for the info on NVDI... anyone else running NVDI that has some benchmark tests? Rodney ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 99 Sat Oct 02, 1993 R.BUSH [Richard Bush] at 02:23 EDT Terry, You can use the system font with Calligrapher, that's much easier on the eyes. By the way, the Demo of That's Write is NOT MTOS compatible but the actual program IS. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 100 Sat Oct 02, 1993 B.DEWITT [Perfesser] at 15:25 EDT Regarding the comments on NVDI vs Warp9, NVDI is being sold by J&J Computers and I am told that it works beautifully with the Falcon (and it's in English-- at least the manual is). I don't know about the Screenblaster/NVDI combo that was mentioned, but I do know that one consideration is price: NVDI is significantly more expensive than Warp9. Seems to me that the price was around $120 (or was it $110?). In any case, quite a bit more than Warp9 (especially if one is upgrading from earlier Warp9 versions). However, I noticed that in a recent mag from England NVDI was selling for 50 pounds. At current exchange rates that's about $75. If $120 is the Stateside price, maybe one could look into ordering direct from England? From all reports I've seen or heard, NVDI is rock solid and fast. Th'Perfesser ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 101 Sat Oct 02, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] at 15:26 EDT Is Masterbrowse a commercial program or can I get it on GEnie? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 102 Sat Oct 02, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 17:13 EDT FAIRWEATHER: File #30183 - MasterBrowse v3.1. Excellent text viewer. Excellent. Rodney: Well, all we have to do is TELL the Codeheads we want TrueColor support. The docs even say it -- "if the demand exists" (p. 2, 3.80 update manual). J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 103 Sat Oct 02, 1993 D.FREELAND [SAXMAN] at 17:18 EDT Where is J&J computers??? David ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 104 Sat Oct 02, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 23:45 EDT Apparently certain combinations of resolution, number of colors, etc., are required for certain programs. How does one know what combo to use with a program? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 105 Sun Oct 03, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 01:02 EDT What exactly is screen blaster? What does it do for the Falcon? Is it hardware, software or both? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 106 Sun Oct 03, 1993 R.LUNSFORD2 at 01:28 EDT Could someone who has, or at least been exposed to the Atari Compendium give me an objective review of it? I'm pretty much definitely going to get it anyway, but.....you know. I especially want to know about DSP calls, details, and any MultiTos stuff. thanks much, Russ ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 107 Sun Oct 03, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:55 EDT Spud Boy: The Screen Blaster is a small device that plugs into (if I recall correctly) the parallel (?) port on the back of the Falcon, and also, via a small cable, plugs into one of the "extended" joystick ports on the side (for power). The result is a dramatic increase in the number of resolutions and colors you can achieve with a multi-scan monitor. It is also software driven. R.LUNSFORD2: The Atari Compendium is an excellent book. 11 pages of DSP calls are available (and it refers you to the Motorola docs for the really deep bits -- and the Motorola book on the DSP is _DEEP_, believe me). MiNT is thoroughly documented, as is MultiTOS. So far, it has been worth the purchase price. I've discovered many interesting things. The layout and fonts are exceptional too. Legibility is very high, indeed. It really is great to have so much information in one place. J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 108 Sun Oct 03, 1993 S.HUGHEY1 [Steve] at 06:01 EDT The speed difference between Warp 9 and NVDI seem to be largely influenced by what machine they are being run on. NVDI is significantly faster on the TT and Falcon than W9, and somewhat slower on older machines. NVDI retails for $119.95, so it's a bit on the expensive side, but it's extremely fast, stable, compatible, and works in all color modes (including true color) and all resolutions. Works great with the ScreenBlaster too. I believe the author of NVDI also wrote the driver software for ScreenBlaster. Is there an NVDI topic around here? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 109 Sun Oct 03, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 10:29 EDT Russ: With any luck, a person who hangs around here quite regularly is going to have a review of the Compendium in the December Issue of Processor Direct (issue #2). On ScreenBlaster: It actually plugs into the monitor port between the adaptor and the computer, and then to the analog joystick on the side. It is a rather nice device, I personally don't think any Falcon 030 user should be without one. All the modes are quite stable (upto 1280x960x16) and perform very well... A full review will appear in the December issue of Processor Direct. (sorry about those shameless plugs...) Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 110 Sun Oct 03, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 10:33 EDT Perfesser :) I'm not familiar with J&J Computers. Do you have more info on them? Spud, Screen Blaster is hardware and software. It provides extended resolutions. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 111 Sun Oct 03, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 12:40 EDT No NVDI topic here, but there should be. Brian, can you start one up? Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 112 Sun Oct 03, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 14:32 EDT I've been using LittleNet to transfer some important programs and files from my Mega STe to the Falcon I just got, and it works very nicely. I get crashes when I try to run programs on the STe from the Falcon, but for file transfer it's very handy, although a bit slow. The Falcon's going to the office so I can use all this good stuff there, and I'll take it to Florida for a couple of weeks at Christmas. That was one of the main reasons I got it. The STe is a bit difficult to pack up and carry, so I'll just leave it hooked up to the printer and modem. The Falcon's very transportable. I'm curious. Does that big STe demo (I think it's about 1.5 meg) work on the Falcon? I downloaded it, but never tried it because I have a mono monitor on the STe, and it's pretty difficult to change monitors with the computer in the desk. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 113 Sun Oct 03, 1993 MIKE-ALLEN [NM~SysOp] at 16:08 EDT Let me echo the comments on "The Atari Compendium!" Mine already has that "well thumbed" look. There is so much information there that it can be overwhelming. It is well organized, however, and the information is easy to find. I've just been reading it front to back. (Something like reading a dictionary!) I've found a few errors, but they seem to be mostly typographical errors (e.g. referring to CP/M-86K instead of CP/M-68K) and are usually obvious. Did you know, for instance, that Speedo fonts can (and usually do) have more than 256 characters in them? Now I'm trying to figure out a generalized routine to read a font, determine what is in it and print out a full font sample. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for the next few months! 8^} I especially appreciate the "Caveats" section for each call. It identifies know bugs and "ideosyncracies" of each call and by tos/gemdos/aes version. Yes, MiNT and MTOS is in there. (Ye Gods and little fishes - reminds me of Unix!) The DSP calls are there. 68881/2 interfaces for both the co-processor and peripherial modes. CPX programming info is there too. Wanna know about the Cookie Jar? Yup, its there! This book is a "must have" for Atari programmers. One thing that I hope programers use in the future is Chapter 11 (no, not bankrupcy!), GEM User Interface Guidelines! Long overdue in this venue. Standard user interfaces for GEM - yeah! There is an RTC with Scott Sanders of SDS in the works for late November. Stay tuned for further information. Mike Allen ST HelpDesk~Sysop Written: 11:14 AM Mountain Time Sunday, October 3, 1993 ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 114 Sun Oct 03, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 17:31 EDT So what's Processor Direct? We're getting these answers step by step, aren't we? How do you get Screen Blaster and how much does it cost? Oh, I see Cat 4, Top 7 is a ScreenBlaster topic. I'm not sure I want to get involved with _another_ one. Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 115 Sun Oct 03, 1993 T.HORNIG [Thomas] at 18:13 EDT mr perfesser The price in germany for NVDI is 129.00 DM that's about $75.00 . maybe they charge the difference for the translated manual. Thomas ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 116 Sun Oct 03, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 18:16 EDT ScreenBlaster is from COMPO, though made by OverScan. The software *was* written by the same people who made NVDI, and it costs $99 or so. Nearly any Atari dealer carries it, as it is *hot*. Processor Direct is a (the?) new magazine aimed at users of newer Atari computers (though it can be useful to 520ST users, too). We hope to get our first issue to press sometime within the next month or so. To find out more, just send us GEmail asking for our brochure and we'll USmail one out to you. Better yet, any questions you may have can be answered in category 15, topic 24. (oh no, not another topic! :) Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 117 Sun Oct 03, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 21:11 EDT No problem Al. I been meaning to for weeks. The NVDI topic is now topic number 17 in category two. MIKE-ALLEN, >There is an RTC with Scott Sanders of SDS in the works for late November. >Stay tuned for further information. November 24, 1993 for the SDS RTC. ~~Brian..Written on Sunday 03 October 1993 at 09:01 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 118 Sun Oct 03, 1993 R.LUNSFORD2 at 21:51 EDT Thanks all for the info on the Compendium, makes me feel a lot better about the fact that I ordered it !!! Russ ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 119 Mon Oct 04, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 00:07 EDT wow... just got ahold of the Space Junk demo of the nets. It is over 7megs, and this isnt even the game!! I will send it up if there is interest (its huge, so only if people want it!!) I also have WinCut, which is by the same guy as Winrec, it does waveform editting, and third Backwards is up to version 2.2, I dont think the new one is up here. Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 120 Mon Oct 04, 1993 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 00:28 EDT J.KRACHT - I don't know if this will help, but I have been happy using UIS III with the Falcon in high rez 16 color mode. No screen re-draw delay. No ghosts, no dirty UIS III menu after a delete. 256 colors are just too much, 16 is plenty. You still have a nice screen, your 3D icons look good and UIS III works as it should. Happy computing! (:{ Grouch ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 121 Mon Oct 04, 1993 D.COOKE [Rob] at 03:16 EDT Curt,I want the SpaceJunk demo! Please! Pretty please! :-) -Rob ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 122 Mon Oct 04, 1993 C.ROUNTREE2 [RoadKill] at 03:18 EDT J&J computers is in Salt Lake City, Utah. The ONLY Atari store in the state (they also sell PCs) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 123 Mon Oct 04, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:30 EDT Thanks, Sean, for the ScreenBlaster info. I think I'm already on your list for the mag, but it seems to have changed names. Y'all. I'm trying to find out how to know how to set the Falcon screen resolution and colors for different programs. I've had programs bomb or say they needed a different resolution, but when I select a different resolution the computer crashes. I wonder if I have the wrong number of colors set for a given resolution or something. Also, usually when I go to select resolution it is not apparent what the current resolution is. It seems not to be either low or medium, and certainly not high (because of the colors). Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 124 Mon Oct 04, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] at 10:04 EDT Curt, how about uploading Backwards 2.2 and Wincut? (Wilfred will be uploading an English version of Wincut someday, hopefully soon, but in the meantime I would like to play around with your German version.) No way am I going to pay for a 7 meg game demo though, so as far as I'm concerned you don't have to upload Space Junk. I'd be happy to see a few screenshots and read a review. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 125 Mon Oct 04, 1993 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 18:06 EDT The Atari Compendium sounds like a Non Registered Developrs dream come true. It's affordable information for everyone. Something that I have been requesting for a long time. It will make the job of people that just program shareware and such for fun or as a hobby easier. Allowing this information to be sold like this, to me, is another great move by Atari. I applaud Atari for allowing everyone to have access to this information in an affordable manner. My hats off to you Atari. Now to call up my dealer and get a copy. Sorry for the off-topic message but, since the Compendium was being discussed here, I thought I would post a response. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 126 Mon Oct 04, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 22:55 EDT Grouch: I solved my UIS woes when I decided to read my manual addendum. You can select your files to work on, then hold CTRL dowm and just click on the function button. You never have to drag the ghosts around at all (which is great, as I never liked that anyway). Curt: What do you think of the Space Junk demo? I'm slightly impressed by it. J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 127 Mon Oct 04, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 23:31 EDT James Kracht, That's why I put my input in here for true color support from Warp 9... guess I had better do that in that particular message base. :-) Rodney --- Al Fasoldt, J&J Computers, 250 East 6400 South, Murray, Utah 84107 (801)265-0835. Hope this helps. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 128 Mon Oct 04, 1993 DABRUMLEVE [kidprgs] at 23:34 EDT Al, J&J can be reached on GEnie at N.BAKER4 ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 129 Mon Oct 04, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 23:52 EDT James-------> The Screenblaster plugs into the MONITOR port of the Falcon and also into one of the Joystick ports. I do not think the Joystick port is just for power, because it makes a difference which one you use.... I wouldn't be NEARLY as happy with my Falcon without the Screenblaster! ----------> Sam ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 130 Tue Oct 05, 1993 T.HEBEL [Spud Boy] at 01:06 EDT Send ALL the Falcon Software !!!!! Grouch, I thought UIS III didn't work on the Falcon... or was that just with Multi- TOS? <> How much is that Screenblaster? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 131 Tue Oct 05, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 02:07 EDT Kurt, Any and all files for the Falcon, PLEASE upload. I'm looking around my best to see if there are any useful shareware public domain files poping up in Southern California, but they are already online here on GENie, but if I find anything that is not, I'll send it up as well. David, Yeah, 7 disks (7 megs) is just alittle to much time to d/l a 'demo' program. But if someone would like to 'send' me those on disk... I'd be glad to give my address in email, and somehow return thoses disks full of other demo's etc. This online time to get Falcon specific stuff is costing me a pretty penny. I was just curious as to why none of these programs were available for sale of the disk of course at Glendale. Is there a Falcon030 specific software house? I'd like to subscribe and get a listing of the latest demos etc... ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 132 Tue Oct 05, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 07:37 EDT Rodney and Dot, Thanks for the J&J info. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 133 Tue Oct 05, 1993 J.BOSSOLINI1 at 10:38 EDT I jvisited my local dealer on Saturday (a music store) and got a chance to play with their new Falcon (4/80 or 4/65 - not exactly sure). Anyway, the guy in charge had just gotten it recently and he let me play around with it for about an hour. I was really impressed, but I didn`t like using it with the SC1224. They didn't have a VGA or Multisync to try it on. It still has the the stupid keyboard that is on my 520!!! Okay, my question: (I don't know if this has been answered before, but I`ve been off GEnie for awhile and I don't have the time to sift through all the old posts) Can I use a different keyboard with it, either a Mega/TT by way of the same hack for 520/1040, or an IBM keyboard with Zkeys or DEKA?? It may seem trivial, but I was hoping my replacement computer would have a better keyboard than my old 520!! Thanks Joe ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 134 Tue Oct 05, 1993 REALM [Joey] at 19:32 EDT Whats the latest on the IBM emulators for the Falcon? Which company is developing the boards? I have a need for some minor IBMing but I hate to buy a whole clone system. Although it might come in handy for games.:-) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 135 Tue Oct 05, 1993 K.BURKENHEIM at 22:04 EDT The Screenblaster is $99.00 The Keyboard can be replaced with the Wizztronics gizmo- I don't know the cost but we tried it out at TCN and it worked. /s ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 136 Wed Oct 06, 1993 R.BUSH [Richard Bush] at 02:13 EDT > J&J computers is in Salt Lake City, Utah. The ONLY Atari store in >the state (they also sell PCs) WRONG! Bits and Bytes in St. George is an EXCELLENT Atari dealer. I drive from Nevada to shop there. Grouch, Could you, in detail, tell us how you installed UIS on your Falcon? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 137 Wed Oct 06, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:39 EDT Richard Bush: UIS III installation -- well, you need v3.32. You put it in your Falcon's AUTO folder (make sure it runs first, or directly after Warp 9) and that's it. Note: I have yet to use it with MultiTOS so I do not know if it works with such. Joey: At the Glendale show, I was very impressed with the Compo FalconSpeed 286 emulator. This TINY little board runs at 386SX speed, and they were running Microsoft Word (or Works, I don't know IBM stuff) via Windows and it worked excellently. You can only access 256 color modes, however, by using Windows. Otherwise, EGA is the best you'll get. J.BOSSOLINI1: I love the Falcon keyboard. Don't give in the pressure to hate your keyboard because your "friends" condemn it. Also, last time I talked to the Zubair guys, they told me Z-Keys works fine. I have Z-Keys, but I'm still afraid to open my Falcon030 (what with a whole year of warranty now). When I get a mathco, I'm might try the Z-Keys. <>: How, exactly, does the ScreenBlaster work? I mean, not the video part, but does it need some sort of ScreenBlaster software installed to get the higher resolutions? Some sort of driver? It seems like it would. What is the best resolution you can do TrueColor in? Do you have to disconnect it to use a SC1435? J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 138 Wed Oct 06, 1993 STEVE-J [DrHfuhruhurr] at 03:47 EDT REALM - So far, the only one available is Falcon Speed from Compo, which is a 16MHz 286 board. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 139 Wed Oct 06, 1993 J.BOSSOLINI1 at 10:37 EDT J.KRACHT: Thanks for the info on ZKEYS. Don't worry, no is pressuring me into hating the keyboard. Trust me, I've had a 520 since 1985 and I've hated the keyboard since day one, but I eventually learned to live with it. recently, though, I have been using genuine IBM machines at work and I have decided I like them better (much better!). Also, if I get a Falcon (when I get a Falcon!) I can hide it and only have the keIBM keyboard out and confuse the heck out of people when they see it run!! Thanks Joe ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 140 Wed Oct 06, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 18:51 EDT James: (as far as I understand it) The ScreenBlaster software tells the little box pluged into the monitor port, via the cable that goes to the analog port, what signal to send to the monitor port and therefore to the Videl which causes it to generate a signal based off the external signals and the software setting some registers. ScreenBlaster can get up to 480x480 in Truecolor on a VGA multisync, not sure of any other monitors... And since ScreenBlaster works with VGA and RBG monitors, using your SC1435 should be as simple as reconfiguring or perhaps UNDO at the set screen size screen. However, I'd hope ScreenBlaster would recognize you are using an RBG instead of the VGA (as you have it or would have it set, I assume) and just abort itself. At the very worst, it would be a matter of making the auto program a PRX. Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 141 Wed Oct 06, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 20:13 EDT Joe, It's not the same keyboard. The key sizes and shapes are different, and quite a bit improved. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 142 Wed Oct 06, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 20:53 EDT I just got my F030 and the display on a T.V. looks real bad. If I use the switch box from my Sega, the picture is very faint. If I use the included switch box I get a better signal but I can now see what looks like RF interferance that moves from the bottom of the screen to the top. There seems to be a definate repeating pattern to the interferance. I am using a 4meg no HD with Wizztronics Ram board. Is there any tests to figuar if I have a bad Falcon. Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 143 Wed Oct 06, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 21:15 EDT Bman: All that wonderful interference is being caused by the power cable. Try moving it around at different angles to the TV and see if that helps any. I asked if the cables were shielded awhile back, but never got a reply. What's better, the actual pattern changes depending on what the processor is doing...yet the orientation of the power cable can eliminate the interference... And more interesting news -- ScreenBlaster likes to broadcast the screen's contents all over the place, particularly in 2 color modes. I can actually almost read what appears on my monitor on the television when watching channel 6, 25, or sometimes 32 (yes, no physical connection between the TV and the Falcon, and even better I'm watching cable!) Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 144 Wed Oct 06, 1993 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 21:17 EDT Spud Boy - UIS III wants to work with the Falcon and with a little tweaking it will perform very well. The main problem is the "ghosts" or leftovers after you do a file move or delete. I have exorcised them by dropping out of 256 color mode. Heck, 16 is plenty for most desktop stuff. I am also advised that UIS III will perform through keyboard commands. It makes perfect sense that if you are not draggin stuff around then you don't have to worry about a lack of screen re-draws leaving your file selector full of garbage. Basicly it is an aesthetic thing. UIS III performs fine, it just gets to looking dirty in 256 color mode the more you do with it. If you cancell and then pop it up again from your DA menu then it is all clean and ready to work again. I think it is due for another minor update that will clear this up in any case and it will be perfectly Falcon compatable. The only real problems I have encountered with the Falcon is the inability to use Aladdin and the breaking of the migraph hand scanner access to Touch-UP. Touch-up still works, but I can't scan in. I think Dr. Bob may have a solution to this problem, but I am not sure. (:{ Grouch. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 145 Wed Oct 06, 1993 B.SUSLOVIC [Brad] at 22:40 EDT The higher versions of UIS III have an option in the configuration menu to toggle whether it reserves the screen upon its calling. If this is toggled on, it probably is not handling the particular falcon video mode or resolution properly, since it was designed befbefore the Falcon. I believe you click on the very top line of text in the configuration menu. Something like "Universal Item Selector"... I believe or something like that. It highlights in black when toggled. Keep this off and see how it works. This information should be in the manual or readme file on the distribution disk. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 146 Thu Oct 07, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 00:04 EDT Is there any way to configure the boot up delay and permenantly turn off the memory test? I got Nvram to change the boot res. There is an option of either 12 or 24, is this for system time? Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 147 Thu Oct 07, 1993 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 01:19 EDT R.BUSH [Richard Bush] >Grouch, >Could you, in detail, tell us how you installed UIS on your Falcon? ------------ What James Kracht said, except it helps a lot to have "Call_UIS.ACC" in your root drive. Then when you boot UIS III loads and you can pull it down from your Desk Menu to select it. The only trick I know of is running in 16 color mode instead of 256. Hope this helps. (:{ Grouch. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 148 Thu Oct 07, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 01:34 EDT David : Ill send Wincut right up.. there is a 16bit mod player that just hit the nets from Germany. it is nearly one meg, but worth the dl so Ill try to send that up also. as for the space junk, it should hit local boards, or call ld at 14.4 and it would be cheaper then GEnie. Curt ------- Cubase Audio should be shipping soon !!! (rumour has it) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 149 Thu Oct 07, 1993 J.KRACHT [James Kracht] at 03:02 EDT Brad: RE UIS III I forgot about that "clicking on the UIS logo" thing. I'll look it up straight away! I thought was was for saving the screen BEHIND UIS, though. J. Sean@TWP: Well, no matter. I'm going to give Compo a call tomorrow and order it. It sounds like a great thing to have! BTW, what does 480 x 480 LOOK like anyway ? J. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 150 Thu Oct 07, 1993 SAM-RAPP [<>] at 03:29 EDT James... Yes, Screenblaster has a program for your AUTO folder... There is a topic around here somewhere fo it... You can do 480x480 TC on a multisync. If you don't have a multisync, it is of limited use. ----------> Sam ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 151 Thu Oct 07, 1993 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 07:44 EDT What is it with the double spacing with Falcon owners? Is there a problem with the Falcons? :-) :-) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 152 Thu Oct 07, 1993 B.SEMAAN [BOSEM] at 08:13 EDT Bman- The NVRAM 12 / 24 option switches between 12 and 24 hour format. -Bob ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 153 Thu Oct 07, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 22:17 EDT From the Aladdin RT: >MIKE-FULTON at 14:28 EDT > >Tim has indeed received the information that he requested (or at >least, he received all the information we have, including an >internal-use-only STE hardware manual). In short, if Tim hasn't got >it, we don't have it to send out. Our docs could be better, but Tim >has everything available. However, I still have not received the >developer sign-up information that Tim is supposed to have sent on two >different occasions. >TIMPURVES [Griffin] at 21:57 EDT > > > Mike, yes all the information has arrived. Thank you. I will also FAX > you the developer sign-up. I keep copies of everything. > > We are waiting for approval before we can continue. As far as an > EMAIL address, I don't know. I am sure my product manager does not > want a rash of EMAIL about it. The ROI might not be worth it for 1.x, > and maybe for 2.0. Sorry for the silence, but there really is no news. ~~Brian..Written on Thursday 07 October 1993 at 11:11 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 154 Thu Oct 07, 1993 K.OLSON10 [KenO.] at 22:53 EDT J.Kracht, I 2 thought the Falcon keyboard would be the pits. I have however grown to like it. It is somehow different from the old 520 board. I went so far as to hook up my MSTe board to the Falcon- but I seldom use it. KenO. :) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 155 Thu Oct 07, 1993 K.RICHARD2 [Bondservant] (Forwarded) As a Falcon owner who is using alladin on a 1040 and little net (for RFalcon Hard drive access) I wonder how difficult it would be to fix Aladdin for falcon I am able to run it for everything except modem use, I use the 1040,quit and then can use the Falcon for off line use . I am totalltly ignorant of programing but is it only a fix so aladdin can access the modem? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 156 Thu Oct 07, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] (Forwarded) In the ST Aladdin RT today, Gordon implied, without coming right out and saying so, that GEnie itself is responsible for the fact that Aladdin has not been fixed yet for the Falcon, and that it is not Tim or Gordon's decision to make. He suggested writing directly to GEnie about this. I asked him for a particular person or E-Mail address to write to. So all you present and future Falcon owners, please start composing your letters. I'll report back as soon as I get an address. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 157 Thu Oct 07, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] (Forwarded) I think we should also write Bob Brodie and the powers that be at Atari and demand they use their influence (such as it is) to sway the powers that be at GEnie. After all, GEnie is supposed to be the official network for Atari. And it was Atari that got us in this mess in the first place by changing to the SCC chip. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 158 Thu Oct 07, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] (Forwarded) David I asked Mike (Fulton) and he stated Tim has the information. If you are reading this Tim, please confirm the above. If you disagree then Mike need to know. Remember everyone, Tim is a busy person and it may take some time. (My personal observation only.) ~~Brian..Written on Thursday 07 October 1993 at 09:53 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 159 Thu Oct 07, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] (Forwarded) I hereby request every Atariphile, whether or not you presently own a Falcon, to send E-Mail to FEEDBACK asking for a Falcon version of Aladdin. If anyone learns of a specific person with the clout to make Falcon Aladdin happen, please let us all know and we can all start E-mailing him as well. Thank you. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 160 Thu Oct 07, 1993 K.OLSON10 [KenO.] (Forwarded) David, You can put me down as #11 Falcon user and the 4th Alad user to stand up and shout. GET ALAD TO WORK ON THE FALCON!!! I now prefer my Falcon over the MSTe except for the few progs that don't work. KenO. :) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 161 Thu Oct 07, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] (Forwarded) Tim has confirmed in the ST Aladdin RT that he does have the info and is waiting for some type of directive from his superiors before he proceeds. He said he doubts if his "product manager wants a rash of E-Mail" on this subject. But as far as I'm concerned, if E-Mail is the only weapon I have, then I'll use it until it appears to be counterproductive. So I've already fired off my first letter to FEEDBACK. And if I ever learn who Tim's "Product Manager" is, he'll be next on my list. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 162 Thu Oct 07, 1993 C.ROUNTREE2 [RoadKill] at 23:27 EDT Richard: ST. George?!!? ACH!! You learn something new every day. BMan: Bad news B-man. I get that pattern on my TV right now, and I DON'T have my computer hooked up to it. It's the radiation from the video out put leaking from the computer into the TV signal (or, so I suppose). Try moving the the computer 10 feet away from the TV. This may not be a solution, but it will tell you whether or not that is the problem. Sean: Not so sure. I'm using an STE, so it may be different, but if I look at the pattern on the TV I can see my desktop. (this is from an STe NOT connected to the TV. They are about 5 feet apart.) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 163 Thu Oct 07, 1993 B.SUSLOVIC [Brad] at 23:35 EDT Curt Great news on Cubase Audio! I'm gonna take the upgrade path from Cubase 3.02. Does anyone know what hard drive speed Atari recomends to do HD recording? And if this "speed" is from manufacturers specs, or how it should benchmark on the Falcon. Also is it possible for the Falcons "SCSI 2" interface to syncronus transfers? b.suslovic ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 164 Fri Oct 08, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] at 00:38 EDT A while ago there was some preliminary discussion about programmers here cooperating to write some sort of an auto folder program that might intercept instructions intended for the old ST serial port hardware and translate those instructions into ones that the Falcon's SCC chip could understand. If GEnie is unresponsive to our E-Mail campaign that might be our only remaining hope for Aladdin to work on the Falcon. Does anyone here have the knowhow to write such a program? Do you think such an idea is even feasible? ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 165 Fri Oct 08, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 01:07 EDT I have done some tests with my F030 and my HD for my mega. I have found that the Falcon is slower than my Mega at retreiving data from the SCSI drive. I have also found that there is a direct coralation between the resoultion and colors displayed that affects HD speed. Tested with RateHD from ICD PRO package. CPU Transfer MilSec ------------------------------------------------- Mega ST 1360k 18 F030 2 colors 640*400 1041k 36 4 " " 1010k 38 16 " " 961k 40 256 " " 772k 52 2 color Screen blaster 1120*640 1015k 38 I am truly wondering why 2 color mode isn't as fast as my mega! I guess it might be possible to speed it up by a faster cpu or a hardware add on. I sure wish there was a way to change the timer that holds the system after a warm boot. Does SuperBoot 8.0 work with the falcon? Is there any other prgs that do the same thing and work on the F030? Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 166 Fri Oct 08, 1993 GREG at 01:49 EDT B.AEIN: After you shoot down your interference, chheck out Photo Show on a broadcast TV. You'll be very surprised at how well the Kodak Photo CD images look. The TV resolutions of the Photo CD process are optimized for viewing on a broadcast TV. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 167 Fri Oct 08, 1993 R.NELSON48 [Grouch (:{] at 01:57 EDT Wayne - No problem with the Falcon, its a user thing. I could make a joke about double talk, but basicly since I have had to give up Aladdin and bounce around among other terminal programs like Flash II and STalker, I am just unsure of how off line messages are going to look when they get uploaded during an on-line sesson. EdHack seems to fix 'em up double spaced. This one is being prepared in the Flash II capture buffer for later sending. How will it look once GEnie has ahold of it, I don't know, but it wont be the Falcon's fault. I take full responsibility and immediatly point the finger at somebody else -=> there, those Aladdin people, or over there <=- the ones on GEnie who didn't teach me right. (:{ Grouch }:) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 168 Fri Oct 08, 1993 R.BUSH [Richard Bush] at 02:02 EDT Okay, I gotta get 3.2 and try that. I'm still (or was) using 3.0. ;) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 169 Fri Oct 08, 1993 STEVE-J [DrHfuhruhurr] at 05:21 EDT FAIRWEATHER - Could you think about this reasonably? If making Aladdin work on the Falcon030 will take more than a minor fix, then it isn't in GEnie's interests to 'authorize' the project until there are A LOT more Falcon owners here. The way you've been going on sounds like you're demanding something that's OWED to you -- well it doesn't work that way! ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 170 Fri Oct 08, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 06:21 EDT What programs utilize SB? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 171 Fri Oct 08, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:48 EDT I've been using a Mega STe, which has a comfortable keyboard, and am not bothered a bit by the Falcon keyboard. I get a continuous sound from near the right side of my Falcon. Sort of a buzzing or scraping sound. Is it the HD? Is it normal? It's not just the intermittent sticktion adjustment we get on the Mega STe. How do you change resolutions on the Falcon? I selected 2 colors and Atari High, and got a blank screen. Otherwise when I try a different combination it bombs. I guess you need to now what combos work and with what software. How can I tell? Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 172 Fri Oct 08, 1993 D.FREELAND [SAXMAN] at 08:03 EDT As GEnie clients, we have a right to ask for Alddin for the Falcon. Other companies have already produced software for the Falcon. They are not waiting for some magic number of machines to appear. They are the ones who will sell the machines by providing great software for it. The fact is that GEnie is the official online headquarters for Atari and I think that GEnie "owes" us support for the Falcon. As Bill Rehbock stated to me that future Atari computers are planned to be using the SCC chip which is why Aladdin is not working so I do not see why GEnie does not go ahead and fix this problem. It is not going to go away!!!!! David ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 173 Fri Oct 08, 1993 ICDINC at 09:35 EDT Thanks for the speed tests Bman. I never checked for differences due to screen colors. That all makes sense though. I guess the high end direct to disk recording people will have to limit the number of colors used in their programs. - TOM - ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 174 Fri Oct 08, 1993 P-DIRECT [Sean@TWP] at 11:16 EDT Aladdin: Well, as for my thoughts on the topic... we don't have a "right" to a Falcon 030 version but as paying customers it certainly makes sense to support us. The fact this is the "official" network of Atari adds to this vauge obligation slightly, however if you don't like GEnie's refusal to provide you with a program you do have the option of switching networks. I've never really used Aladdin a great deal, or almost at all (I like to be sure my money is going to the right place). I've navigated GEnie "the hard way" for years now, and it is not particularly difficult... Sean Dougherty Two Worlds Publishing ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 175 Fri Oct 08, 1993 D.FREELAND [SAXMAN] at 13:12 EDT Sean, it is not that it is difficult, it just saves money. That is what makes Aladdin so great. It allows you to use your dollars in a better way. That is why I would rather be on GEnie using Aladdin, I can get more for less. David ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 176 Fri Oct 08, 1993 ICDINC at 15:18 EDT Bman, We ran our Falcon through the paces using RATEHD with all the color choices as per your testing but we saw no difference. Can you be more specific in your setup. What OS are you using and what ACCs are loaded? - TOM - PS By "no difference" I mean that RATEHD did not change in its results when I changed from 2 colors to max colors. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 177 Fri Oct 08, 1993 D.MCNAMEE [Dan @ Atari] at 22:50 EDT David, -> A while ago there was some preliminary discussion about <- -> programmers here cooperating to write some sort of an auto <- -> folder program that might intercept instructions intended for <- -> the old ST serial port hardware and translate those instructions <- -> into ones that the Falcon's SCC chip could understand. <- That function is built into TOS, and it does work, the problem is with programs that ignore TOS and go directly to the hardware, like Aladdin does. To fix this, you would have to write a fix that is specific to each program that you are trying to fix. Dan ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 178 Fri Oct 08, 1993 B.AEIN [B Man] at 23:13 EDT I will test again, but I was using a screen blaster and a few other prgs. What kind of numbers are you getting and are you working on a hardware speed up and SCSI auto booting? Bman ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 179 Sat Oct 09, 1993 R.BENNETT7 [Rodney] at 03:48 EDT >FAIRWEATHER - Could you think about this reasonably? If making Aladdin work >on the Falcon030 will take more than a minor fix, then it isn't in GEnie's >interests to 'authorize' the project until there are A LOT more Falcon owners >here. The way you've been going on sounds like you're demanding something >that's OWED to you -- well it doesn't work that way! >---------- DrHfuhruhurr, In my opinion, my main reason for subscribing was because stating in the ad, that software was available to make navagating around GENie automated for the Atari line of computers. It will cut down on costs tremendously! So in my opinion... yes... it's OWED to me. And yes, it's not the only reason why I joined GENie. It's because Atari claimed that this was the offical Atari Corp hang out. (As stated so many times in AEO, ZNET in the past and present. I was really disappointed when I downloaded Aladdin, and tryed to dial out, that it just didn't work. I highly suggested that within the ST Aladdin Roundtable that they post a login bulletin to inform new Falcon030 owners that Aladdin doesn't work and not to waste their time in downloading it, unless they have an ST or STE also. I just hope that they get this cured before I sell my Mega. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 180 Sat Oct 09, 1993 FAIRWEATHER [David] at 10:40 EDT Dan@Atari: How about you and Bob Brodie and other influential people at Atari making a direct request to GEnie to get Aladdin fixed for the Falcon? Since GEnie is supposed to be Atari's "Official" online service some "officials" from Atari might have more influence than we ordinary subscribers. Tim Purves has stated that he won't write the fix until his superiors direct him to. So can someone from Atari please talk to his superiors? Thank you. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 181 Sat Oct 09, 1993 DMJ [dmj] at 11:16 EDT Dan: - ...the problem is with programs that ignore TOS and go directly - to the hardware, like Aladdin does. Wasn't this discussed (and beaten to death) already? If TOS had support for ALL of the serial stuff, software wouldn't have to go to the hardware... but TOS is lacking in its serial support, so direct hardware access is necessary. Period. End of story. -dmj ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 182 Sat Oct 09, 1993 R.BUSH [Richard Bush] at 12:17 EDT >Does SuperBoot 8.0 work with the falcon? Is there any other prgs >that do the same thing and work on the F030? SuperBoot 8.0 does indeed work, for the most part. Some functions don't work right anymore-- for instance, you can't save a boot configuration from the boot screen any more, but you can still do it with the construction set. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 183 Sat Oct 09, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 14:09 EDT I have a question about the LittleNet program that's been mentioned quite often. I understand that LN uses the MIDI ports to communicate between PCs. Is there a way that I can connect my Falcon to my 1040 with LN and still have my MIDI ports available for music when needed? Thanks, Mark Stefani ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 184 Sat Oct 09, 1993 D.ENGEL [Thunderbird] at 18:24 EDT Dan @ Atari... That approach wouldn't work in the general sense... I don't know if the hooks are there to do it (my) way, and I don't have the time to try and write this, but this way _will_ work for everything, and do it well: You use memory protection to trap all accesses to the addresses formerly occupied by the serial port on the ST 68901. Then you emulate the 68901 _in software_, so that the F030 thinks it has an ST port in it. Windoze programs have been doing this for years to allow multiple applications to use the serial ports by giving them all 'virtual' ports. I'm sure that someone is probably writing this right now... ______________________ \hunderbird ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 185 Sat Oct 09, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 19:25 EDT Mark, Yes, you can do that if you rig up a switchbox to choose another set of MIDI out/in connections. But you won't be able to use the network and the MIDI functions at the same time. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 186 Sat Oct 09, 1993 C.OATES2 [Chris] at 20:49 EDT BMAN (I think) I just downloaded the most recent version of SUPERBOOT to use on my (NEW!!) Falcon (got it yesterday!) and it works fine. Ken O (again, I think) You said you hooked up your megaSTE keyboard to your Falcon??? How did you do that, or did I misread your post? ~Chris ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 187 Sat Oct 09, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 22:35 EDT MCH, I think what you have to do to make the MIDI ports available is to unplug the cables from the other computer. :^) Ken Van ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 188 Sat Oct 09, 1993 K.RICHARD2 [Bondservant] at 23:16 EDT Mark concerning Little net and midi, to use your midi for music just disconnect from the little net and use it , you can"t run both at once. if you have any problems with midi not seemimg to work eliminate the little net acc and reboot Bondservant (runing aladdin on a 1040 and falcon H.D.) ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 189 Sun Oct 10, 1993 R.THUROW [Rich] at 00:05 EDT I just downloaded Littlenet and must say its quite a bargain. One would expect to pay a good buck for this capability. However, the installation was not without problems. I was having messages feedback to the host computer after sending them. And lots of garbage in the directory of the host. In fact, I had to backup and wipe by boot partition as I had some lost clusters and things were getting screwy. (But those might not have been LN fault.) The solution was a new midi cable. The problem was on the errant cable all five pins were connected. Remember that the two end pins of the midi out actually carry the midi thru signal. You need to use a standard midi cable that complies to the midi spec. Only 2 of the pins are connected on these. Now I have it working pretty good. For some reason, the second computer will not read any of the files in my ICD folder, but will read all the others on the partition. I have one drive formatted with ICD software, the other with HDX5.0. Sector size is the same though the ICD drive will allow BGM sectors from the syquest. Strange. I have a humongous midi rig. One thing you dont want to do is run a midi application while little net is connected. I'm going to hook up a switch box so i can switch between LN and midi switch box. I see no reason why one of those automated sysnth switchers wouldn't work. Anyone? I enjoyed "The Secrets of LN". The right midi cable is another one. Rich ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 190 Sun Oct 10, 1993 S.DANUSER [Soul Manager] at 00:22 EDT Sending letters to FEEDBACK will not help to get ST Aladdin fixed. GEnie management has their own, rather mysterious agenda, which has little to do with their customers' wishes. There have been new versions of Aladdin ready for most platforms, even Windows, for quite some time, but GEnie will not allow them to be released. You might want to ask FEEDBACK why that is. My own theory is that GEnie is waiting for the completion of PC Aladdin 2.0 before they will release the front ends for other platforms. Soul Manager ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 191 Sun Oct 10, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 09:48 EDT Al, Is such a switchbox, to your knowledge, available or would I have to indeed 'rig' one up? Thanks, Mark ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 192 Sun Oct 10, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 10:41 EDT Rich, LittleNet won't read BGM formatted partitions no matter what. It reads ICD formatted partitions OK, but they must have 512-byte sectors. I find LN a must in my setup. The other day, while at work, I ran an automated backup over the net of 30 megs. Not sure how long it took, but it was done when I got home, and that's what counted. And my STFAX was running and doing its thing all the time. Mark, MIDI switchboxes are surely available. Try KEYBOARD magazine's ads. Al ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 193 Sun Oct 10, 1993 ARCHIVIST [Charlie] at 11:51 EDT Soul Manager, FEEDBACK does indeed listen to customers, as does GEnie management. They listen very carefully. The new Aladdin versions you're refering too (and I really don't know about a Windows version, other than that I've heard for a long time that GEnie is eager to do one) have not been released because they can't be. They're not done, and can't be completed until system development finnishes a major new project. GEnie's mysterious agenda, as you phrase it, is really very simple: maintenance and development of current software takes precidence over development of new software. That's hardly a surprise. GEnie is an enormous system, and the work has to be done bit by bit. It will come, but you shouldn't let the fact that GEnie doesn't talk about obscure technical details lead you to think they don't listen. Money talks, and the customers have all the money. Heheh. Trust me, it's a lot harder for a sysop to get their attention than one irate customer....(G) Charlie/sysop ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 194 Sun Oct 10, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 14:22 EDT Soul Manager >Sending letters to FEEDBACK will not help to get ST Aladdin fixed. I feel from the tone of your message that you have been less than happy about a FEEDBACK response in the past. If it concerns this RT, please EMail me and perhaps we can make you a happy customer? ~~Brian..Written on Sunday 10 October 1993 at 02:58 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 195 Sun Oct 10, 1993 R.WATSON15 [Wayne Watson] at 15:52 EDT Dan, What about Carrier Detect? What about RING indicator? What about buad rates higher than 19200. Is this stuff in TOS for the SCC chip? What about on the TT and MSTE? So, saying that TOS supports it is not all correct. If it did, then yes, there would be no reason to go to hardware but, Atari is forcing us to go to hardware because TOS does not completely support the serial ports. The basics are there but... You fix TOS or come up with a patch for the rest of us and I would be glad to use the calls and not go to the harware. ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 196 Sun Oct 10, 1993 B.SEMAAN [BOSEM] at 19:22 EDT Mark Stefani- Check out J.L.Cooper's line of Midi patchbays. They have several to pick from, some even have merging, auto switching etc. Prices start at around $79.00 mail order for 3-in/8-out and go up from there. If you're really into midi you will need a patchbay of some sort, eventually anyway. Call Musician's Friend at 800-776-5173 for a free catalog if you don't have one already. -Bob ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 197 Sun Oct 10, 1993 J.WILSON103 [J_Dub] at 20:01 EDT Does there happen to be a current listing of programs that work on the Falcon? I got my Falcon today, and am wondering about many of my programs. In lieu of installing them all (some obviously for naught), I was just wondering. Thanks in advance. J_Dub ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 198 Sun Oct 10, 1993 T.STARACE1 at 21:39 EDT Does anyone know of any Falcon dealers on Long Island NY. I left this message in the Dealer Info topic a couple of months ago and did'nt get an answer. Can anyone here help me? Thanks ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 199 Sun Oct 10, 1993 M.STEFANI [MCH] at 22:27 EDT Bob, Thanks for the tip on Midi patchbays. I actually have a pretty sophisticated Midi Patcher by 360 systems in my studio rack, but a smaller hardware alternative is what I'd like to find. I have done business with Musician's Friend and do have their catalog. Mark ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 200 Mon Oct 11, 1993 C.FLUEGEL [Curt] at 00:13 EDT as to the Falcon hard drive being slower, remember its IDE... Curt ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 201 Mon Oct 11, 1993 MIKE-ALLEN [NM~SysOp] at 03:42 EDT Wayne, you are very right. Using the Bconmap call you can get a LIMITED set of the other serial ports. However, as far as I can tell, even then TOS only lets you support 1 port at a time without going to hardware. Seems like TOS should have expanded to give us complete control for all the ports. Of course, given Atari's history on serial port firmware (RTS/CTS for example) do we really want them writing anymore serial port code for us? Maybe in TOS 5.0! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` J_Dub, Try file # 29676, FSCL0811.LZH for a Falcon compatability list. Mike Allen ST HelpDesk~Sysop Written: 6:54 PM Mountain Time Sunday, October 10, 1993 ------------ Category 14, Topic 41 Message 202 Mon Oct 11, 1993 ICDINC at 10:25 EDT Curt, We are testing SCSI drives not IDE. Bman, Yes, we are working on those things. - TOM - ------------