========================================================================= (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 24 Mon Nov 19, 1990 DARLAH [RT~SYSOP] at 21:55 EST Sub: STraight FAX Discussion of Straight FAX! (Send/Receive FAX Software for Class 2 compliant FAX/modems) from NewSTar Technology Management. 201 message(s) total. ************ ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 1 Thu Dec 17, 1992 C.S.SMETON [Charles S.] at 00:02 EST 12/16/92 ======= Important Announcement from the developer of the STraight FAX! ======= As of today December 16, 1992, Joppa Software Development will no longer be the marketing agent for the STraight FAX! FAX Communication Software for the Atari ST, STe, TT/030 and Falcon030 computers. All marketing rights and distribution will be handled by the developer of the software under the company name of NewSTar Technology Management, which is owned by the developer of the STraight FAX! We ask all our registered STraight FAX! users to bear with us during this transition. For the moment all upgrades will be delayed while things settle down. Please look for future announcements as the develop. We ask that this announcement be distributed through the Atari community as it may be impossible for us to contact all registered STraight FAX! users about the change of support. Also, we ask that all any questions be forwarded to the addreses below. Registered users may send us private mail at the addresses below with their complete registration information (please include your registration number, date of purchase, name as registered, address, etc.). NewSTar Technology Management is committed to providing the best possible support for the STraight FAX! customers and ask for your understanding during this transition. We request that all Atari users, dealers and distributors to not purchase any copies of the STraight FAX! from Joppa Software Development or Joppa Computer Products as they are no longer licensed to distribute the STraight FAX! Please look for future announcements from NewSTar Technology Management regarding this matter. Thank You, Charles Smeton Compuserve: 73047,2565 GEnie: C.S.SMETON NewSTar Technology Management P.O. Box 0122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122 ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 2 Mon Jan 04, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:10 EST Happy New Year! to everyone who has supported the STraight FAX! in 1992. By now, I hope that everyone is aware of the change in marketing of the STraight FAX!. As of December 16, 1992, the STraight FAX! is being marketed under by NewSTar Technology Management, which is owned by the developer of the STraight FAX!, Charles Smeton. I would like to thank all the STraight FAX! users for their patience during this transition. It is very important to us that our users feel that they are being provided the best support possible. To this extent, since NewSTar Technology Management's primary business is hardware and software engineering, we are happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Dave Troy of Toad Computers located in Severna Park, Maryland to provide telephone technical support, production support and marketing support for the STraight FAX! The STraight FAX! will continue to be marketed under the NewSTar Technology Management company name and on-line technical support will continue to be provided on GEnie, Compuserve and the FNET by NewSTar Technology Management. TOAD Computers will provide telephone technical support during their normal business hours and may be reached as follows: 570F Governor Ritchie Hwy. Severna Park, Maryland 21146 Technical Support: (410) 544-6943 FAX: (410) 544-1329 GEnie: TOAD-SERV. We kindly ask that STraight FAX! users do not call Toad Computer's 800 line requesting technical support. As all Toad Computer's personnel may not be completely up to speed in providing technical support to registered STraight FAX! users, any questions that can not be answered directly by the support personnel will be forwarded to NewSTar Technology Management in order to provide accurate answers as fast as possible. Again, We thank you for your patience during this transition. NewSTar Technology Management may be reached as follows: P.O. Box 122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122 GEnie: C.S.SMETON, product support is available in the ST Roundtable in Category 4, Topic 24. Compuserve: 73047,2565, product support questions may be posted in the Atari Developer's Forum (GO ATARIDEV) Telecommunications message area. FNET: Charles Smeton, FNET Node 500 (Battlezone). We also monitor the Atari Explorer On-line and ST Report Message Areas as well as the other major Atari ST related message areas available on the FNET. Note to dealers: The STraight FAX! will still be available in the US from Pacific Software Supply and in the United Kingdom from HCS Computer Peripheral Supplies. ***************************************************************************** NewSTar Technology Management is happy to announce that we have been accepted into membership of the Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD). We wish to thank IAAD President, D. A. Brumleve and the IAAD Board of Directors for accepting our application request. ***************************************************************************** NewSTar Technology Management recently received a stack of FAXes and letters from STraight FAX! users that were sent to the previous marketing company that were never answered. We apologize for the delay in processing these FAXes and letters that we only recently have been made aware of. All of these FAXes and letters are being answered at this time. NewSTar Technology Management ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 3 Fri Feb 12, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 07:13 EST I just recently purchased Straight Fax.....the dealer sold me version 1.04, and yes, I have been on the line with Toad, who have informed me that they will honor what I feel is right, the concept of a new purchase being the current version....so I expect to hear from them regarding getting me the current version. Kudos to them for that. My question: I'm moving my studio/office to Germany next month. The German phone system doesn't support tone dialing, so I'll have to use pulse. I forsee a problem with accessing faxes that are integrated with answering machines and need to receive the * or # key to work. Any suggestions? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 4 Fri Feb 12, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 19:16 EST D.Keller - Hmmm, you should be able to imbed a 'DT' command to get the # key sent as a DTMF tone. I'm online right now, or I'd try it and let you know. :) Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 5 Tue Feb 16, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 23:50 EST >Atari-ST RoundTable >Category 4, Topic 24 >Message 22 Sat Nov 14, 1992 >T.MORALES1 [Tony] at 16:13 EST >Then there's the Zoom that you can get for about $100 or less. It is a class 2 >send and receive at 9600 baud, but only does data at 2400. This modem seems to >work great with the STraight Fax program. I use this one on a 1040 with Tos >1.2. In the docs in the 1.6 upgrade of STfax there's a mention about tos below >1.4, well here it is: I know that this a rather old message but could you or someone else tell me the model # of the above mentioned Zoom modem and where it would be availible for that price? I see in my computer shopper catalogue a Zoom FMX 9624 9600/2400. Would this be compatible? Perhaps someone could post a list of modems that are compatible. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 6 Thu Feb 18, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 08:22 EST J&R music world in Manhattan sells a few models of Zoom modems. They have an AFX type which sends faxes at 9600 and receives at 4800 and does regular data at 2400. they also have an "External 24/96" type which sends and receives at 9600 and does regular data at 2400. Would this second type of fax/modem work with STraight FAX and does the modem be able to take advantage of all the features? What should I ask the salesman? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 7 Thu Feb 18, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 10:40 EST I use the Practical Peripherals 2400FX96SA modem, which I got for $110 at CompUSA, and it works jess fahn..... ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 8 Sun Feb 21, 1993 CBARRON at 01:34 EST For what it is worth the IMG's of straight fax are compatible with Migraph's OCR and TOUCHUP, MegaPaint and PageStream. Maybe something is wrong with your IMG reader and Superbase Pro 3??? I am guessing but I have ocr'ed imgs, and printed via pagestream. Edited them in touch up and megapaint. No problems for those programs... ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 9 Sun Feb 21, 1993 D.STMARTIN [Binary Ink] at 08:32 EST AL GO RHYTHM: I recently returned from Germany and did some MODEMing over there. My first question would be"What type of modem are you planning on using?". The German Bundespost tightly controls ANYTHING hooked to the phone lines and test for these approved devices is expensive (hence the cost of German MODEMs). There are fines and such plus liabilities for damage caused to the system by your equipment. With that said, I can tell you that I successfully access GEnie via DATEX-P while in Germany ($18.00/Hr.). I did, however, have problems FAXing using the older JoppaFAX software and the Joppa (Zoom) MODEM. I never was successful at getting a FAX to go. I did try pulse dialing and found there was some kind of problem in the pulse dialing routines. I never did get to the bottom of the problem nor was I successful. Good luck in Deutscheland! Take a pocketful of money for computer gizmos over there. Regards, -- Dave @ Binary Ink ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 10 Sun Feb 21, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 12:51 EST Dave: The modem I'm currently using is a Practical Peripherals 2400FX96SA. I've had no problems to speak of here in the States. My brother-in-law works for the Bundespost as a phone technician (and I used to work for AT&T as one), so I'm reasonably confident that if it can be made to work, we'll find a way. (He has already been successful with standard FAX machines and cordless phones purchased here.) I have been advised of a couple of different methods of accessing GEnie from there, and don't anticipate a problem with that. In particular, I'm taking not only my ST, but an entire recording studio of fairly substantial size. I'm picking up a transformer this week, of course, and preparing myself for the probability of unforseen problems of any shape and size, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the STraight FAX working, since that's a major reason I bought it. Thanks! DK ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 11 Mon Feb 22, 1993 D.ALVEAR1 [Dom Alvear] at 05:10 EST Flakes: You should ask if the modem is Class 2 compliant. STraight FAX currently supports Class 2 modems. In a future update they may support Class 1 modems, but not yet. Dom ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 12 Mon Feb 22, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 19:20 EST Hi! Just wanted to let everyone know that version 1.07 of the STraight FAX is coming very soon. All registered users of STraight FAX should contact us to be sure they are registered. Registered GEnie users whose GEnie addresses we know will be automatically upgraded through GEnie. Otherwise, you'll have to explicitly ask for the upgrade. If you don't want to do it on GEnie, for some reason, please send us $2 with your original disk at: Toad Computers 570-F Ritchie Highway Severna Park, MD 21146 Thanks. Direct any private questions to: TOAD-SERV. or C.S.SMETON and just post public questions here! Also, no one post their registration or credit card numbers in this BB. That is bad. - Dave ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 13 Mon Feb 22, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 19:37 EST Hi! Almost forgot to mention our new BBS for STraight FAX and Silhouette support. Call there to get related files, leave messages for the authors of both programs, etc. Upgrade information and Toad Specials also frequently posted. The number is (410) 544-6999. Thanks! - Dave ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 14 Mon Feb 22, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 22:18 EST Hi Dave. I recently bought STraight FAX and sent in the registration form, but there was nowhere on it for my GEnie ID. Should I GEmail you my registration # so that I can do the GEnie upgrade when it's ready? mike.k ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 15 Tue Feb 23, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 21:29 EST Mike: Send your GEMail address to Charles. (C.S.SMETON). He'll take care of your upgrade. - Dave ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 16 Tue Feb 23, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 21:55 EST ****************** Notice to All STraight FAX! Owners ****************** NewSTar Technology Management, the developer of the STraight FAX! is asking all STraight FAX! owners to please re-register, since some users Registration Cards were not made available from the previous company that marketed the STraight FAX! software. Many owners have already re-registered and we wish to thank them for taking the time to re-register. STraight FAX! version 1.07 is about to be released and since only registered users aee eligible for updates, all users need to be registerd. To re-register, please send us: - Your 10 Digit STraight FAX! Registration Number, this is the number that was typed into the Installation program to install the STraight FAX!. - Name under which the program was registered, include a company name if applicable. - Address, City, State, Zip Code and Country. - Voice Telephone Number (optional). - FAX Telephone Number (optional). - CompuServe and/or GEnie E-Mail Address. - Date of purchase (approximate if not exactly known). - Where the STraight FAX! was purchased from (or was the STraight FAX! purchase an upgrade from the JuST the FAX! Send FAX Software/Modem). Using one of the following methods: - In a private E-Mail message to the Sysop on the Toad Computers BBS at (410) 544-6999 (300-14400 baud). - Via a FAX to the FAX Support Line at (410) 544-1329. - Via a letter to NewSTar Technology Management at the address below. - In a Private E-Mail message to 73047,2565 on CompuServe. - In a Private E-Mail message to C.S.SMETON on GEnie. !!!!! Important !!!!! Please do not post your Address, Telephone Number, Registration Number, or Credit Card Numbers in any public message areas on the Toad Computers BBS or the online services where we provide support. If you are in doubt, please post a test message with no private information or try to send E-Mail to the Sysops. We also ask that any owners who have never registered their copy of the STraight FAX! do so by filling out the Registration Card and mailing it to our new address: NewSTar Technology Management P.O. Box 0122 Columbia, MD 21045-0122 If a registered user has had a change of address or phone numbers or has transferred the ownership to another person, we also ask that you please re- register so that we can make sure that you are in our customer database. Please include your previous address or the previous owner name/address. Thank You for your support, Charles Smeton NewSTar Technology Management Member of the Independent Association of Atari Developers (IAAD) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 17 Wed Feb 24, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:01 EST >Hi! Almost forgot to mention our new BBS for STraight FAX and Silhouette >support. Call there to get related files, leave messages for the authors of >both programs, etc. Upgrade information and Toad Specials also frequently >posted. > >The number is (410) 544-6999. Thanks! Dave, Actually, you did forget, but then you remembered. That's better than forgetting and not remembering. So we don't need to contact you about our registration if we answered Charles' previous request to re-register? Maybe I should send you my address, so I can get one of those fabulous TOAD catalogs, anyway. (Or maybe TOAD can send them to registered STraight FAX users.) Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 19 Wed Feb 24, 1993 AEO.5 [Ed Krimen] at 22:42 EST (I hope this is the right topic. Weird having a software product supported in the Hardware category...) I just had much difficulty connecting (I was doing the calling) to a Sharp F0120 or FO120 fax machine with STraight Fax 1.06 and a Supra V.32bis with H (no caller-ID) ROMs. Anyone else have this trouble? Hmm, what's strange is that I had no problems receiving a call from this exact same fax machine only about a month ago. (I know this is a Supra ROM problem, but since it deals with the fax part of it, I thought I'd get more of a response here.) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 20 Wed Feb 24, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve ] at 23:17 EST Hi Toads! Two things - first, I faxed my registration number, etc to your machine a week ago for my copy of ST Fax 1.6. I didn't leave a GEnie address, but as you can now guess, its S.KIEPE On a second subject, I finally got GDOS to work with my moniterm monitor (see other listings I had left for you) but ST Fax still doesn't recogize that GDOS is loaded. I modified the assign.sys folder to set it up properly for use with G+ , and the G+ accessory says all is well (as do other programs) but ST Fax says GDOS is not installed. Any ideas? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 21 Thu Feb 25, 1993 SANDY.W [sysop] at 15:14 EST Does STraight FAX require GDOS? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 22 Thu Feb 25, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 18:57 EST To: AEO.5 [Ed Krimen], Ed, this topic started in 1990 when the predecessor to the STraight FAX! was released, this was a send only FAX Modem/software bundle. This is why the topic was started in a hardware area. Supra has acknowleged problems connecting with some model FAX Machines. Since Supra maintains and enhances the Rockwell FAX Modem firmware, they have fixed some of these problems in their later firmware ROMS (i.e. H and J). Some problems still exist. We have been in contact with Supra and they are working with Rockwell on fixes as these problems are in all Rockwell based FAX Modems, not just Supra's. The problems are slight timing differences between the firmware in the FAX Modem that handles the low level Group III FAX protocol while in Class 2 FAX mode. The Supra FAX Modems support both Class 1 and Class 2 FAX modes, but the STraight FAX! is currently Class 2 only. We are working now on providing Class 1 support in the near future, this will give users an alternative way of connecting with some FAX machines that dont like the current Supra/Rockwell Class 2 firmware. In Class 1 mode, the FAX software is responsible for the low level timing and Group III FAX protocol, as such we can make adjustments as needed without firmware changes. However, at some point I expect that Supra will release a new firmware upgrade which should also correct the problems in Class 2 mode. The problem that you have can be unique to the direction of the call, i.e. sending vs. receiving as different parts of the firmware are in use on the FAX Modem and remote FAX Machine end. To: S.KIEPE, Have you installed STFAX.PRG in the G+Plus desk accessory list with the proper .SYS file? As STraight FAX! (STFAX.PRG) is a GDOS application, it needs to know which .SYS file to use when G+Plus is installed. Also, STraight FAX! uses a special feature of G+Plus, copy the .SYS file with your printer driver setup to the folder where the STraight FAX! is located. Rename this .SYS file to STFAX.SYS. When STraight FAX! runs, it looks for this .SYS file and will attempt to load it's configuration. You might want to download the file FAXMODM3.ARC from the ST File Library as the subject of using Straight FAX! with G+Plus has been discussed before with alot of helpful input from Codehead Technologies (these messages have been archived and deleted from this topic). To: SANDY.W, Sandy, STraight FAX! does not require GDOS to be used, although some of its capabilities will be disabled without GDOS installed. STraight FAX! itself is a GDOS application in that it uses GDOS and GDOS printer drivers to be able to print FAX or Image files via a printer supported by GDOS. In addition, STraight FAX! can take advantage of a special GDOS driver from Atari called MEMORY.SYS, which should be installed as device number 61 in the ASSIGN.SYS file. With MEMORY.SYS installed, STraight FAX! can render GEM Metafiles for viewing and FAXing purposes. In the next release, version 1.07, MEMORY.SYS can also be used to scale image files pasted from the Atari Clipboard into a clip area defined in a Window. Version 1.07 also has a command to access Atari's Speedo GDOS Printer Setup program to select a printer driver to print with or configure a driver's page size, resolution, etc. STraight FAX! also includes GDOS printer drivers that "print to disk" FAX files from other GDOS applications, such as Word Flair II, GEM Output, Atari Works, etc. We currently have an Original GDOS compatible FAX driver, a Font GDOS/FSM GDOS compatible FAX driver and will be releasing a Speedo GDOS compatible FAX driver with version 1.07. In the future we plan on using Speedo GDOS to be able to use its fonts for ASCII Text to FAX and Cover Page generation. STraight FAX! has been tested with the following GDOS versions: Atari GDOS Release 1.1 (original GDOS), CodeHead's G+Plus, Atari's Font GDOS, Atari's FSM GDOS, Atari's Speedo GDOS and the German NVDI 2.xx GDOS/Screen Accelerator. To: K.VANDELLEN, If you want a catalog from Toad Computers, you can send an E-Mail message to "TOAD-SERV." (note the period is part of the GEnie address). If you have re-registered since December 16, 1992 or purchased the STraight FAX! and mailed the Registration Card to our NewSTar address or Toad Computers, then there is no need to re-register again. We released this message as many people have not yet re-registered. NOTE: To all Registered STraight FAX! Users. STraight FAX! Version 1.07 is almost ready for its final release. However, if any registered users wish to beta test the pre-release of Version 1.07, please send private GEMail to C.S.SMETON and we will forward this pre-release version to you. We also have available for beta testing a new Speedo GDOS driver to generate FAX files, a new That's Write 2.xx driver to generate FAX files and a CPX utility to set the output file path of any of the STraight FAX! "print to disk" FAX file drivers. All are available to registered users upon request here on GEnie or via the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999 (300-14400 baud). Also, if you have the STraight FAX! and have never registered it, this would be a great time to do so by sending the Registration Card to our new address at: NewSTar Technology Management P.O. Box 122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122 Thanks, Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 23 Thu Feb 25, 1993 G.ZEPKA1 [Greg] at 23:27 EST Dave, Thanks for the information and your support of an excellent product STraight Fax. I did try to call your BBS after I faxed you my regestration information, but it did not connect properly I am using a supra v32vis modem. I will try again, I just upgraded the roms in it from a very old set. Greg ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 24 Fri Feb 26, 1993 SANDY.W [sysop] at 11:09 EST Exactally what will the program do without GDOS installed? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 25 Sat Feb 27, 1993 CBARRON at 03:54 EST It essentially will not PRINT the faxes to your printer without GDOS. Most if not all features are available. I use it without GDOS. I convert the faxes to img format if I want to save the fax. This will also allow running Migraph's ocr on the faxes if they are text. Or clipping in a suitable program the graphics of any importance. I personally print them with megapaint or pagestream if I really want a hard copy. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 26 Sat Feb 27, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 12:58 EST K.VANDELLEN -- Yeah, if you want a catalog, let us know. STraight FAX users will be receiving periodic mailings about stuff (if of course you're registered). EVERYBODY -- Registering with Charles/NewSTar is the same as registering with Toad. We're just trying to collect as many names as we can. So no matter whether you've sent registration info to Charles or us, you're registered in the same database. ;-) GREG ZEPKA -- You want to make sure that you're set up with 8 bits, no parity, 2 stop bits. Furthermore, make sure that your modem knows to use RTS/CTS handshaking (the AT &K3 command) and make sure that your terminal has that set too. Also, make sure you're using a program like TOS14FX2 or SERFIX2 which will make sure that your TOS version will handle RTS/CTS properly. Other than that, get the ROM upgrades and check 'your line for any noise. It should work - - a bunch of other folks have made it on fine. :) EVERYBODY FURTHERMORE -- The 1.07 upgrade will be available in the next 7 days. For those of you who have requested it to be sent to you electronically on GEnie or the BBS, expect to get it in the next 7 days. For those of you who want to get it through the mail, expect to get it in the next 7-14 days. It will come. ;-) Once again, if you're not registered, become registered. Thanks again for your enthusiastic reception of STraight FAX! We're having fun. - Dave @ Toad ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 27 Sat Feb 27, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve ] at 14:18 EST Thank you for the hints, I will be trying them all, and will download the FAXMODEM3.ARC file as well. STraight Fax works so well, and I print out the faxes so rarely (until now, always by conversion to IMG then import into pagesteam) that it has been a minor annoyance. Now that I'm starting to get a handle (tenuous) on GDOS, I want to get everything working properly. I did use the G+Plus accessory as suggested, but did had left the driver as assign.sys and put it in the wrong place. I'll try again. Thanks! ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 28 Sun Feb 28, 1993 D.FLORY [ALERTsys*Cop] at 12:39 EST Dave, any info' on whether SF will be upgrading to use SpeedoGDOS? This is _so_ much easier to install and use than old GDOS that it should add a few who have been hesitant to use a GDOS program to your sales base. (-: Happy Bytes :-) Dave Flory, ALERTsys*Cop 08:52 PST - 07/04/7 ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 29 Sun Feb 28, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 16:34 EST Yeah, Dave. Send me a catalog. I hear they're worth having. Also, please send me the upgrade on GEnie, although I don't know when I'll be able to use it. I'm trying to get something worked out with Joppa on the defective JoppaFAX modem I have that doesn't give a tone to set the trimmer. Ken Van Dellen d8^) Kenneth J. Van Dellen 1018 Nottingham Road Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230-1332 ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 30 Sun Feb 28, 1993 AEO.5 [Ed Krimen] at 19:36 EST Charles, First, thank you for your very complete, detailed, and thorough responses! They are much appreciated. Your replies demonstrate your professionalism and dedication to the Atari market! What can you tell us about Supra's voice digitization upgrade? As I recall, they expected it to be released in December 1992. Thanks. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 31 Mon Mar 01, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 18:16 EST Sandy - Yup, CBARRON hit the nail on the head. If you don't have GDOS installed you won't be able to print incoming faxes w/in STraight Fax. You can, however, convert them to IMG format and print them with some other program. Also, w/out GDOS you won't be able to import or convert any .GEM metafiles to the STFAX format. STFAX doesn't use GDOS as you might expect, in that it doesn't require it for showing things on the screen, etc. It's simply needed, for the most part, for output. I run it all the time w/out GDOS installed as I'll rarely actually put an incoming Fax on paper. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 32 Tue Mar 02, 1993 SANDY.W [sysop] at 10:22 EST Thanks. That is what I needed to know. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 33 Tue Mar 02, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 21:59 EST Dave Flory -- We are already testing STraight FAX with SpeedoGDOS and it works fine. So, essentially, we already support Speedo... But the public isn't supposed to have it yet! ;-> But when they do, it will work fine, and yes it is much easier to install! Ken Van Dellen -- We will send you a catalog. You might want to ditch the sendfax modem. If you're looking for something cheap, try the Supra 2400/9600 FAX Modem at around $149. It will do FAX send and receive at 9600 baud and 2400 baud data (9600 baud with v.42bis on). Great deal. - Dave @ Toad ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 34 Wed Mar 03, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 06:33 EST What Ed said. Good support! Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 35 Wed Mar 03, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 18:11 EST Just wanted to say that I got the program a couple of days ago, set it up and in 10 minutes I was off and faxing. This was probably one of the shortest learning curves I've ever experienced in a new program. I appreciate that the manual includes a section explaining what fax communication is. I'm a little shaky on how to use the STFAX.SYS driver. Soon I will have my uprgade from Calligrapher 2 to 3. I understand that this version does not really use the GDOS system. How will I configure things to convert C3 documents into .Jnn format? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 36 Wed Mar 03, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 20:06 EST While C3 doesn't really use complete GDOS, it still uses GDOS printer drivers and you'll be able to use the STFAX GDOS driver to create your FAX files. Charles can shed more light on this for you. - Dave @ Toad ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 37 Wed Mar 03, 1993 WAYNED. [Wayne] at 20:41 EST Dave @ Toad, I just got the upgrade through GEmail. I counted about 165 names in the "forwarded" list. That's quite a few through just GEmail. What kind of numbers are the total sales at? Wayne ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 38 Wed Mar 03, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 21:08 EST Dave, Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe that's the best way to end about a year and a half of frustration. Joppa is continuing to be unresponsive, so there appears to be no hope for satisfaction there. I replaced a perfectly good Lynker's 2400 modem with the Sendfax, and I might as well spend another $150 and add the Sendfax to the pile of unused hardware. :^( I assume if I order the Supra from one of the Atari dealers in the mags or get it from a local PC dealer, I'll get one with the right chips, so I won't have the problems folks have talked about here. Is there a model number or something on the Supra? I guess it has to be Class 1. I'll look forward to the catalog. Maybe the Supra is in your catalog. ;^) Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 39 Wed Mar 03, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 21:36 EST Wayne, I'd be surprised if you got an answer to your question. That kind of information is usually confidential. Of course, if there's no competition it might not be as serious. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 40 Wed Mar 03, 1993 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 21:43 EST Dave @ Toad, Thanks for the upgrade via GEmail! Btw, did you know that you can send a message TO multiple names, and you can also CC a message to multiple names. Seems like it would be easier and less 'messy' than forwarding the same mail over and over and over. (I thought that message would never stop scrolling. ;^) __ /erry .\\ay ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 41 Wed Mar 03, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 23:01 EST I bought my SupraFaxModem from Toad (at the Milwaukee 'fest) and have been very pleased with it...and the price too. :-) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 42 Thu Mar 04, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:45 EST To: K.VANDELLEN, Thank You. To: O-ZONE, Please download the FAXMODM3.ARC file in the ST File Library. It contains a series of messages that explain how to use Calligrapher 3 with the STraight FAX! GDOS drivers. These messages were archived by the GEnie sysops and uploaded to the file library and removed from the message area. Basically, Calligrapher 3 has a configuration utility that allows 2 GDOS printer drivers to be specified. Copy the STFAX.SYS driver to C3's fonts folder and use the config utility to select it as one of the 2 printer drivers. Also, please send me private GEMail with your name as it appears on the Registration Card or else place your GEnie address on it when you mail it in so that we can add you to the database. Also include your 10 digit Registration Number in the private GEmail. Version 1.07 has been sent out via GEMail to registered users in the database who have sent in their Registration Cards. I will forward this to you after you send me the EMail. To: WAYNED. Sorry, but sales totals are a company secret. To: D.FLORY, The STraight FAX! is already Speedo GDOS compatible. Currently it does not use GDOS fonts (bitmapped or scalable), but this will change in a future version. STraight FAX! uses GDOS for printing FAX/Image files, rendering GEM Metafiles (with the MEMORY.SYS driver) and in version 1.07 to scale Image files pasted from the Atari Clipboard into a Clip Area. The STraight FAX! package also includes original GDOS and FONT GDOS/FSM GDOS "print to disk" drivers for other GDOS applications to print their output to disk as FAX files for later sending. We also have a Speedo GDOS version of this driver in beta test and will release it once Atari releases Speedo GDOS. To: AEO.5, Ed, the last time I spoke with someone at Supra was in late December, 92. I asked about the Voice Mail extensions to the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems and am on the waiting list for documentation. Supra had promised to release new firmware ROMS that support Voice Mail in December, however the way that Supra is providing Voice Mail is a bit different than other vendors. Supra uses Rockwell FAX Modem chipsets and unlike other modem vendors has the source to the firmware and has made several enhancements, including Silent Answer and Caller ID. Last year I spoke with an engineer at Rockwell and he indicated that a new chipset and firmware would be necessary to support Voice Mail, despite what Supra has been advertizing as a simple user installable ROM upgrade to add Voice Mail to its existing Rockwell based FAX Modems. Whe I spoke with Supra, the tech support engineer indicated that Supra had determined that Voice Mail was possible in their Rockwell based FAX Modems (perhaps they have special hardware that is waiting to be used?) and that they had contracted another company to modify the firmware to support Voice Mail. This process was behind schedule at that time. Supra will have a big advantage pricewise over other modem vendors who support Voice Mail as the other vendors will use the newer more expensive Rockwell Voice Mail/FAX/Data chipsets and firmware. The big question is will Supra's command set to support Voice Mail be compatible with Rockwell's. If not there will be another Class 1 vs. Class 2 vs. Class 2.0 problem as in the FAX world. The bottom line is that there must be software to support the Voice Mail and this requires some standards. Drop a message to SUPRATECH to find out what is happening in this area. To: Sandy, The STraight FAX! can send/receive FAXes, convert Image, DEGAS and ASCII into FAX format for sending, view Image, DEGAS and FAX all without using GDOS. STraight FAX! does not require GDOS, but it will use GDOS if available to add extra features which I described (printing, using GEM files, scaling Image files pasted from the Clipboard). In addition the Phone List, FAX Scheduling, FAX Send/Receive Logs, and many other features do not depend on GDOS. As I indicated before, future versions will use more of GDOS features to add enhanced capabilities. BTW, alot of people print FAXes with out GDOS by exporting received FAX documents into Image Files and improrting them into other applications for printing. To All: Here is a list of the main STraight FAX! (TM) Version 1.07 Enhancements: - On the Atari Falcon030 or with Atari's Multi-TOS, the user interface takes advantage of the new three dimensional effects available. - Support for Silent Answer on Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems with version 1.200-H or 1.200-J firmware. Silent Answer allows automatic detection of a FAX or Voice call once the phone has been answered either manually or by an answering machine. - Support for Caller ID on Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems with version 1.200-J firmware. Caller ID information will be displayed during the FAX Receive Process. Requires Caller ID service from local phone company. - Embedded graphic/text file commands can be placed in an ASCII Text File using the new Include command: #INCLUDE=d:\path\filename.ext This will allow custom page headers, graphics or signatures to be placed in a FAX. - Page Margins may now be specified (Top, Bottom, Left and Right) for ASCII Text to FAX conversion. - During ASCII Text to FAX conversions, the text will now word wrap when the line length exceeds the number of characters that fit on a line. - Image Files pasted from the Clipboard may now be scaled to fitinto a Clip Area in a Window (requires GDOS and MEMORY.SYS). - ASCII Text may be pasted from the Clipboard into a Clip Area in a Window, the text will automatically be converted to a bit map format using the internal FAX fonts. - The Clipboard functionality in the Cover Page Entry dialog box is now context sensitive to the section of the Cover Page parameters where the text cursor is located. - A new command exists in the Edit menu: Clear All. This command will clear the entire contents of a View Window. - A new command exists to Rotate a Graphic Window. This command will open a new View Window with the contents of the current View Window rotated 90 degrees to the right. This will be useful for viewing text on a received FAX that was transferred sideways. - A new command exists to thicken the contrast of a Graphic. This command makes it easier to view handwritten text and light contrast graphics in a received FAX document. - The graphic in a View Window may now be dynamically scrolled by holding the left mouse button down while the mouse cursor is inside the top View Window work area and dragging the Flat Hand mouse cursor. - The Input and Output I/O Buffer Size parameters in the Modem Preferences dialog may now be specified, eliminating the need for an external utility to set the I/O buffer sizes. - Bezier curves are now supported in GEM/3 Metafiles (requires GDOS and MEMORY.SYS). - When selecting a file via the File Selector that will be read (i.e. Send, View, Load). An alert will be displayed if the selected file does not exist that will allow a new file to be selected or for the operation to be cancelled. - When selecting a file via the File Selector that will be written (i.e. Save). An alert will be displayed if the selected file already exists that will allow a new file to be selected, to overwrite the selected file or to cancel the operation. - A new button, Margins is present in the Graphic Info/Clip Area Edit dialog. Selecting the Margins button will size the Clip Area to the fit the Page Margin values from the Page Preferences dialog. - If the Alternate Key is held down while selecting a FAX File to View, Print or Add to the File List from the File Selector, then as many FAX files that can be handled will be Viewed, Printed or Added to the File List starting with the page number of the selected FAX File. This feature allows an easy method of reviewing several pages of a FAX document generated via one of the STraight FAX! "Print to Disk" drivers or to view multi-page received FAX documents. - The STraight FAX! will now look for the International Day and Time Cookie (IDT) in the Cookie Jar which is present in AES versions 3.30 and higher (i.e. Falcon TOS 4.0x & Multi-TOS). The IDT Cookie specifies how the time and date should be formatted according to international standards. - When creating or sizing a Clip Area in a View Window, the window contents will scroll when the mouse cursor leaves the window's work area. This allows creation of a Clip Area around any area of a View Window in one step. STraight FAX! (TM) Version 1.07 (C) 1990-93 NewSTar Technology Management Toad Computers Straight FAX! (TM) Technical Support 570F Govenor Ritchie Hwy. Severna Park, Maryland 21146 Technical Support Line: (410) 544-6943 FAX Line: (410) 544-1329 Toad Computers BBS: (410) 544-6999 (300-14400 baud) GEnie: C.S.SMETON or TOAD-SERV. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 43 Thu Mar 04, 1993 N.HARD [Nick] at 07:05 EST Does this new v1.07 support class 1 yet? Didnt really see a list of new items.. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 44 Thu Mar 04, 1993 AEO.3 [Lyre] at 14:25 EST Actually, it is easier to simply use: *ACC,BLIND, You can add additional email recipients by adding additional email addresses - comma delimited. This command is limited to one line; however you can have any number of these commands in a letter. What this does is send copies of this letter to all of the email addresses. However, they do not see the names of any of the other recipients. I have personally used the command effectively for mailings to about 30 people. Lyre 2:05 pm, March 4, 1993 PS: An yes, you can use it from within Aladdin! Just type it in to the letter somewhere - beginning, middle, end. Wherever. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 45 Thu Mar 04, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 23:41 EST Charles: Got the new GEmail tonight about the update to the update , but Aladdin didn't download the attached file since you used the same name as the file of 3/2. (hint: change the name slightly when this happens) So the question is, just what is the bug and what actually happens when you exit the editor? I haven't unarced the update yet, and I just wondered whether to d/l the corrected file, and of course, I need to decide within five days. (before the file disappears from the mail system) mike.k ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 46 Thu Mar 04, 1993 OUTRIDER [Terry] at 23:59 EST Lyre, Right you are! I hope Charles takes your advice on the next mailing... __ /erry .\\ay ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 47 Fri Mar 05, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:01 EST Charles, What Outrider said. Also, you can put "*ACC,J.DOE,Q.JOHNSON,... at the end of a message to send CCs. Lyre, The above is not limited to one line. Are you sure it is with BLIND in it? Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 48 Sat Mar 06, 1993 AEO.3 [Lyre] at 14:10 EST Ken Van, Now that you are questioning me on it, I'm beginning to wonder. I have always used it as I mentioned (one line). I'll see if I can find out. Lyre 12:31 pm, March 6, 1993 ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 49 Sat Mar 06, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 16:23 EST No -- V1.07 does not support Class 1. Charles is hoping to get that into a later version. That will be a much more significant upgrade and will be priced accordingly. - Dave ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 50 Sat Mar 06, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve ] at 18:58 EST I just downloaded (after many attempts, GEnie has been screwy lately) version 1.07U upgrade of STraight Fax. I like some of the new features (especially the variable size buffers - really speeds things up on the outgoing side) but faxes don't come in properly anymore. I note that I get about the top 2 inches of a transmission, then the rest turns into streaks of garbage lines, etc. I've had incoming faxes from three different machines to my ST and they all do the same thing. The only real difference between my 1.07 setup and the 1.06 setup is that my incoming and outgoing buffers are raised up to 62K each, on a Mega 4 ST with TOS 2.06. Has anyone else had similar problems? Any ideas? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 51 Sat Mar 06, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 23:19 EST Thanks, Dave. I guess I meant Class 2. I sure want to make sure what I can use before I purchase! You didn't give me that model number for the Supra. Sounds good to me, but I'd want to get the right one. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 52 Mon Mar 08, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 00:59 EST To: K.VANDELLEN, The Supra FAX Modem Plus (V.42bis 2400 baud data, 9600 baud send/receive FAX), the Supra V.32 FAX Modem (V.32 9600 baud data, 9600 baud send/receive FAX) and the Supra V.32bis FAX Modem (V.32bis 14400 baud data, 14400 baud send/receive FAX) are all Class 1 and Class 2 compliant. The Supra FAX Modems may cost a bit more than other FAX Modems, but are still very reasonably priced. For instance the Supra FAX Modem Plus has a street price in the $150 range. However as it supports Class 1 & Class 2 FAX and V.42bis on the data side, it is superior to other FAX Modems that are Class 1 or Class 2 only or that do not support V.42bis. The Supra FAX Modems also come in a very sturdy aluminum package with a small footprint. Supra sells their FAX Modems with or without software for other platforms, so that you only have to purchase the FAX Modem with software for another platform if you want to. If price is a driving factor over performance and features, there are several very low cost FAX Modems that are Class 1 only. Once we support Class 1, this will be a low cost solution. One thing to keep in mind is that many of the low cost Class 1 only FAX Modems are 9600 baud send FAX, but only 4800 baud receive FAX. Some may also offer MNP on the data side, but this requires special software on an IBM PC and is not built into the FAX Modem. As many of the FAX Modems available use FAX Modem chipsets and firmware available from Rockwell International, internally they are basically the same. The Supra V.32/V.32bis differ from other FAX Modems that use the same Rockwell chipsets in that they support Class 1 and Class 2, have a 2 digit alphanumeric display that replaces several of the modem LEDs, and that they support other Supra firmware enhancements such as Silent Answer and Caller ID (added cost option). Supra has also planned Voice Mail upgrades and releases updates to their firmware to correct compatibility problems. To: AEO.3 & OUTRIDER: The STraight FAX! upgrade was uploaded as a file to my GEnie address and then forwarded to the list of users in our registration database with GEnie mail addresses. The forward command in the Mail command mode does not allow the BLIND option. The *ACC, feature works great in a normal ASCII text message that is uploaded via the *UPLOAD command. However, when entering the message description of an uploaded file GEnie does not allow the *UPLOAD command. This makes the *ACC feature unreliable if it is ASCII uploaded into the message as there are time delays associated with the verification of the mail addresses. In addition, the upload of a file attached to a message is not a GEnie Basic Service. It can take an additional 15-20 minutes to send the message to the list of users the size we have in the database. In addition GEnie only allows XModem and XModem CRC upload protcols on file messages, which at best give a yield of 145 cps at 2400 baud. GEnie's XModem upload protcols are very unusual. If I connect at 2400 baud with no MNP, XModem upload yields 145 cps. At 2400 baud with MNP5, the XModem upload yields 95 cps. This is backwards from what should be expected as every other aspect (except the delays caused by an overloaded system) of communications are improved when MNP5 is used. I would be nice if GEnie allowed YModem and ZModem uploads when sending files attached to a message. To: MIKE.KELLER, The first release of STraight FAX! V1.07 was cancelled as a GEMail message with an attached file. The bug was related to exiting the Send Log/Receive Log/Schedule Editor by pressing the Enter Key (as opposed to selecting the OK button). The problem was very strange as it did not require a single line of code to be changed to correct, just a recompile and link. It was a wierd resource file situation that caused the problem. To N.HARD & All: Support for Class 1 FAX Modems is being added to the STraight FAX! as this message is being posted. When Class 1 support is ready for release, we will release an updated version that supports Class 1. This will be the only added feature to this upgrade and it will only be of interest to owners of FAX Modems that support Class 1. Beyond this upgrade, there are additional upgrades planned with additional features. To All: STraight FAX! Version 1.07 was released this past week and was sent to many registered users via GEnie File Mail. Additional copies have been mailed to users who have sent in for upgrades via Postal Mail and should be arriving very soon. The upgrade is also available to registered users via the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999 (300-14400 baud), by sending E-Mail to the Sysop with your registration number, name, address, etc. The upgrade will then be sent as F-Mail to your account on the BBS. If you have not received the upgrade via GEnie File Mail, please send private E-Mail to C.S.SMETON with your registration number, name, address, etc. Your GEnie account will be added to our database and the upgrade will be forwarded. Note: several users have experienced problems downloading the upgrade from the Mail area or with Aladdin. The file stays available for another download attempt from the Mail area (command 12) for 5 days from when it is first listed or 30 days from when it was first uploaded. If an problem occurs during the download, please try again using command 12. If the problem continues to occur during subsequent download attempts, please send feedback to the GEnie sysops. Charles @NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 53 Mon Mar 08, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 01:06 EST To: S.KIEPE, Please set the I/O Buffer size to less than or equal to 32767 bytes for the input and output buffers (under Modem Preferences). While it is documented that TOS 1.04 and higher support I/O Buffer sizes greater than 32767 bytes, it appears that TOS sometimes interprets a size greater than 32767 bytes as a negative number, causing problems such as whet you have experienced. Try installing Serial Fix 2.0 as it will replace all the RS-232 I/O routines. As far as dowloading via GEnie, please try after 11:00 PM as GEnie tends to be very busy and slow during the evening hours (East Coast Time). This may cause timeouts in the download protocol. One other thing... The GEnie Lamp comes out near the first of the month for several computer platforms and is a Basic Service. The last Atari GEnie Lamp was about 250K bytes of ASCII text. If alot of people are capturing the GEnie Lamp, things can slow down a great deal. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 54 Mon Mar 08, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:00 EST Thanks very much, Charles, for your detailed information on modems. Joppa still hasn't answered my letter, so I guess they aren't going to be any help with my defective FAX modem (which works fine except for trimmer adjustment). I think I might as well see what I can do on a Supra modem to end this nightmare and start using your program. BTW, the sysops told me to avoid 9-11 Eastern time. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 55 Mon Mar 08, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 23:48 EST >> GEnie's XModem upload protcols are very unusual. If I connect at 2400 baud with no MNP, XModem upload yields 145 cps. At 2400 baud with MNP5, the XModem upload yields 95 cps. This is backwards from what should be expected as every other aspect (except the delays caused by an overloaded system) of communications are improved when MNP5 is used. I would be nice if GEnie allowed YModem and ZModem uploads when sending files attached to a message. Do NOT try to upload using Xmodem with MNP error correction. The MNP slows down the transfer. If you'd used 2400 without error correction, you'd have gotten a faster upload. mike.k ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 56 Tue Mar 09, 1993 HUMPHRIES.JR [Roger] at 07:26 EST Steve, I have seen a similar problem in one specific situation. The strange thing is that I can send FAXes to them with no problem, but can not receive properly. I get the same thing you are describing -- a small band at the top of the page, either pretty much blank or filled with streaks of garbage. No intelligible information. The problem machine is a Xerox model 7033. So far I have not had a similar problem with any of the several other machines I have sent to or received from. Charles @ NewSTar has said that this is due to a timing problem in the Rockwell chipsets used in Supra FAX modem. He also said that it is quite possible for the problem to be one way, as it is in my case, because the send and receive timing can be different. He has spoken to Supra to encourage a hardware/firmware fix. In the meantime, when he adds Class 1 support to STraight FAX! that will provide an alternative path for connecting with problem machines that may solve the difficulty. -- Roger ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 57 Wed Mar 10, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES] at 23:27 EST Charles, Thanks for the information. The gouge on when to use GEnie is also helpful. I will change my buffers back to around 32K and see what happens (I do so love this program - gave a whole new life to my ST!) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 58 Sat Mar 13, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES] at 00:02 EST Chuck, I tried the fixes you recommended to make my copy of STraight Fax v1.07 work properly but no luck yet. I cut my buffers to 32K even both input and output, and tried to run the Serial Patch program (but the program said no need - TOS 2.06 installed). This is on a Mega ST 4 with an Turbo 25 card. Version 1.06 works perfectly, and 1.07 sends perfectly, but receives only about 1/4 of a page before it turns to black garbage streaks and then cuts off the signal. Any more ideas? Has anyone else seen this problem? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 59 Sat Mar 13, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 00:05 EST Hi. I'm still just testing out STraight FAX, sending stuff to the office to see how it comes out! Anyway, I typed up some text using Diary24B acc to use as a second page fax. Now Diary does not auto wrap, so I used returns to keep the text within my ST screen. In FAX I had margins set for 1 inch each side, and when I "received" my fax it had a couple of "short" lines, with only one word on them, where wraps obviously got screwed up. Was this caused by the hard returns in my Diary text? An ascii to fax conversion won't remove the returns? If using a word processor, will I need to set line length, or will STraight FAX handle the wrap OK? mike.k ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 60 Sat Mar 13, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 23:12 EST Mike, Your text should have margins set slightly narrower than the STFAX margins. You may want to use STeno for creating ASCII texts for faxing rather than Diary, since it will create the right margins. I use STeno exclusively for faxable texts. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 61 Sun Mar 14, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 09:54 EST Steve - There is a message on Supra's BBS, from a Mac user, reporting a _hardware_ failure that caused rcvd faxes to be full of streaks like you described. Obviously, since you can eliminate the problem by using an earlier version of software, it's not your modem. But I just thought I'd mention it here for what it is worth. Other than that, I've never heard reports of what you are describing. Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 62 Sun Mar 14, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES] at 18:28 EST Gordon, I'm finding it hard to figure out as well, as all previous versions (1.2, 1.4 and 1.6) have worked perfectly. No clue at this point what to try next. I have lot's of faxes from many different machines coming in, all which previously worked (and under 1.6 continues to work) so I'll just go back to it until the next version comes out. I'll be very interested to watch and see if other people have similar problems over time. Steve ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 63 Sun Mar 14, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 18:54 EST To: S.KIEPE, Serial Patch 2 (SERPTCH2.PRG) is an Atari Patch, which is included on the master disk in the \PATCH folder. This patch is for TOS 2.05/3.05 only. It is required when using a Mega STe or TT030 with these TOS versions. There is another freeware patch (available here on GEnie) called: Serial Fix. There are two versions of Serial Fix: 1.1 and 2.0. Version 2.0 was recently released. Serial Fix is required if RTS/CTS flow control is in use. Serial Fix 1.1 is needed in addition to SERPTCH2 on TOS 2.05/3.05 and TOS14FX2 on TOS 1.04. Serial Fix 2.0 includes the corrections provided by SERPTCH2 and TOS14FX2 and does not need these patches to also be installed. When using Serial Fix, install the program into the AUTO folder and the CPX into the folder where the CPX Modules are located (\XCONTROL or \CPX). Do not lock the RTS/CTS mode with the Serial Fix CPX. STraight FAX! knows how to set flow control between RTS/CTS and XON/XOFF properly. If you lock the mode to RTS/CTS with Serial Fix and set the STraight FAX! to XON/XOFF, the STraight FAX! will believe that it has set the flow control to XON/XOFF in the computer and FAX Modem, however the computer will be locked into RTS/CTS and the FAX Modem will be set to XON/XOFF and problems will occur. Set your RS232 Input and Output buffers to 32767 bytes or less. If you have an external utility, such as AUXINIT from Gribnif (included with STalker) that sets the I/O buffers larger than the size in the STraight FAX!, the larger (external) size will be used. We test the STraight FAX! on a 520 ST @ 8 Mhz, a Mega ST4 at 16Mhz with a T16 card, a Mega STe at 8 & 16 MHz, a Falcon030 @ 16 Mhz and a TT030 at 32MHz, so I dont believe the CPU speed is a problem. All timing is done using the O/S which is independent of the CPU speed. The TOS version in use should also not be a problem assuming the proper patch is installed. What type of FAX Modem are you using. If you have a Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modem, do you have the latest "H" or "J" (Caller ID) firmware installed? We have tested V1.07 with a Supra FAX Modem Plus, Supra V.32 FAX Modem, V.32bis FAX Modem, Zoom SendFAX Modem, Zoom FX9624 FAX Modem & Best Data Products Smart One FAX Modem. I have not seen the problem that you have described with version 1.07. There have been very few changes to the receive part of the program. The main changes were to add Caller ID and Silent Answer support, which only affect the answering of the call before the handshaking and any data for the first page is sent. Could you tell me a bit about the other AUTO folder/Desk Acc's installed on your system? If you still have an example of what has been saved as the received FAX, please arc it and send it to me at C.S.SMETON or F-Mail it to me on the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999. To: MIKE.KELLER, The maximum number of characters on a text line in a FAX file is 80. If a Carriage Return is detected in the ASCII Text file before 80 characters are read, the line will be shorter than 80 characters and will be padded to the left with spaces. To allow 80 characters to fit on a line, the left and right margins must be set to 0.25" on an 8.5" wide letter/legal sized page. This is because the FAX font used is a monospaced font and 80 characters takes up 8.0". If the left and right margins are greater than 0.25" each on a letter/legal sized page (or the total of the left and right margins is greater than 0.5"), then less than 80 characters will be able to fit on the line. A text line of more than 80 characters will be word-wrapped and continued on the next text line in the FAX. If you wish to have left and right margins greater than 0.25", then make sure that your text lines in the ASCII Text File are less than 80 characters. Most Text editors, such as Steno 2 from Gribnif, will allow a line size to be specified to allow this. To All: There has been a suggestion to have the STraight FAX! support switching to send mode from a Voice connection. This can be thought of as the reverse from the Manual Receive capability present in the STraight FAX! We have done some research and testing and it is technically possible to do this with Version 1.07, as the Blind Dialing mode is required. In Version 1.07, to do this. Set up an entry in the Phone List as: Manual Send , The FAX phone number is just a ",", which will cause a pause and then proceed. There must be something in the FAX Phone Number or else it can not be selected. In the Dialing Preferences dialog, set the Dialing Mode to Blind Dialing and the Dialing Prefix to nothing (empty string). During a voice conversation, ask the person on the other end to get ready for a Manual Receive. If they are using the STraight FAX! or other FAX Software, this will take a few seconds to initialize the FAX Modem. Tell the person to wait a few seconds, engage the Manual Receive and to hang up the phone when they hear the FAX CNG Tone. On a FAX Machine, engaging the Manual Receive should only require hitting a button. On the STraight FAX!, this requires hitting the space bar while the Receive FAX Status dialog is displayed after selecting the Manual Receive command. Set up the STraight FAX! to send the files to transfer. Then in the Phone List, select the "Manual Send" entry only. It may take a while to convert the files to FAX format (to reduce the wait, this may be done ahead of time with the convert commands) and then it will begin dialing. Since there are no digits to dial, it will pause 2 seconds (default) due to the comma in the Phone Number. Hang up the receiver once the Send FAX Status says its Dialing as the FAX Modem is off hook at that time. Wait a few seconds and the FAX Transfer should begin. This capability will be added in a future version, without the need to do the manual setup described above. Charles Smeton NewSTar Technology Management ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 64 Tue Mar 16, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES] at 23:06 EST Charles, Thanks for the additional information. I re-downloaded the update file you sent me, and re-installed it again and I have just gotten 5 good fax sheets in a row and all appears to be OK. I don't have a bad file to send you now, but if I get another, I'll send it your way. I'm running a Mega 4 with T25 and TOS 2.06, and a Zoom FX9426 fax modem. My auto folder programs are Superboot, Warp 9, XMON (for my moniterm) and UIS III. My accessories are Warp 9 CP, Scrollfix, Steno, WordPerfect print spooler, and XControl. My XControl accessory Modem CPX has "none" selected for flow control. On my modem preference in STraight Fax! is XON/XOFF, I just used the default because I didn't know what to use. I'm still not using the serial fix, I'll download it and save it in case problems reoccur. What should my modem preference be, and is there any advantage of one mode over another for single modem use? I do like the new features of 1.07, especially the right click in view fax bringing up the dropdown box under the mouse pointer - very nice. The ability to change I/O buffer sizes is great - I don't know if it speeds things up on the incoming side, but it makes the outgoing side fly. Oh yeah, I have both buffers set to exactly 32K. In short - it's working and I don't know what the earlier problem was due to. You do have a happy customer however, and I definitely get value many times what I paid for the program! Thanks for your support! Steve ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 65 Wed Mar 17, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 13:37 EST I am also a very happy customer. I run ST Fax on my TT. The only wish left is for full Mtos compatibility, when Mtos is released. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 66 Thu Mar 18, 1993 R.JANSSEN1 [DAMIAN] at 01:48 EST I must say right off that NewSTar provides the *best* online support I have ever received on software. Charles Smeton is the fax guru! That being said, I commence my whining :>. I read through and executed all of the necessary connections and configurations for v1.07's silent answer feature. The Phone Mate answering macine answers after 4 rings. STraight Fax detects all of the rings but is set to answer after 5 rings so it just sits waiting. I enserted a 4 second delay before the greeting commences. After the greeting I can here the CNG tones trying to connect a fax but mine just times out. Can it even hear the tones? Could the answering machine's "beep" be mucking things up? I'm anxious to have a walk-away set-up so any advice would be greatly appreciated. 'Dig you later, \\\\ o-o Damian. ~ (R.JANSSEN1) \_/ [X] ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 67 Thu Mar 18, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 18:08 EST Are you sure you have the ROMs that support Silent Answer? I don't know what the revision number is off hand, but maybe someone else will. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 68 Mon Mar 22, 1993 SCFARM [Ira B.] at 06:27 EST I guess we're talking Supra v.32bis 14,400 FaxModem here. If so, Silent Answer is supported in their 1.200 H and 1.200 J ROMs. Word on the Supra BBS is that newer revisions ("rev L" in one message) will be out in the near future. I'll defer to Charles for possible solutions to Damian's problem. The Silent Answer TXT and IMG files he supplies with STraight FAX! help to insure the proper connection of answering machine and modem to the phone line. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 69 Wed Mar 24, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 00:57 EST To: R. JANSSEN1, I assume that you have the "H" or "J" firmware ROM upgrades from Supra that support Silent Answer. Type the command AT+FREV? from a terminal program to determine the firmware revision. The Silent Answer capability is not available on the Supra FAX Modem Plus (2400 baud data, 9600 baud s/r FAX). Its only available on the V.32 (9600 baud data, 9600 baud s/r FAX) and V.32bis (14400 baud data, 14400 baud s/r FAX). Please take another look at the SILENTA.TXT and SILENTA.IMG files in the version 1.07 update. These files explain the operation of Silent Answer in detail and show the proper connection diagram. In the files are suggestions and hints to overcome problems with the proper operation of Silent Answer. One thing to keep in mind that if the calling FAX machine is an older model (usually a manually dialed FAX machine), it will probably not send the CNG tones necessary to trigger Silent Answer. Without the CNG tones, even an external FAX Line switcher box will not operate properly. Look at the connection diagram carefully, make sure that you have a "Y" splitter that is used to send the phone line to both the FAX Modem and the Answering Machine. Dont plug the Answering Machine into the back of the FAX Modem -- it Silent Answer wont work if its hooked up this way. Other than that, there may be a problem with your FAX Modem. Silent Answer requires fairly clean signals to be able to detect the CNG tones. A noisy phone line or a marginal circuit in the FAX Modem would make this unreliable. Once the phone is answered by an answering machine or a person, the FAX Modem listens for 2 seconds for the CNG tone. If the CNG tone is detected by the FAX Modem, it sends 9 fake RING responses to the computer. The STraight FAX! counts these and when the proper number of RINGS are detected, it sends the ATA command to the FAX Modem to make it answer the call. Once the FAX Machine picks up, most answering machines will hangup automatically. A person should wait if the CNG tone is heard and hangup once the FAX Modem has picked up. BTW, From my experiences with Silent Answer, the users either get it to work the first time or not at all. Supra original press releases about Silent Answer were a bit misleading as to exactly what it did and did not do. On another service, there are dozens of messages directed to Supra from Mac & PC users who are ahaving similar difficulties. Basically all that we did to allow Silent Answer to work is to send the proper AT command prior to the call being received ;-) To: All, The following was posted by Supra on another service and is reposted for user convience: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ March 5th, 1993 Since the introduction of high-speed modems, it has become apparent that some telephone lines have a high level of "line noise." With those lines, it is often difficult to maintain high-speed communication. Supra has made several revisions to our firmware that have improved the capability of SupraFAXModems to communicate on lower-quality lines. Additionally, we have added the capability to fall back and/or fall forward in speed to compensate for line noise. These fixes have enabled many customers to achieve high-speed communication on lines that previously posed problems. Unfortunately, some customers still find that on some lines they are not able to achieve and maintain high-speed connections with SupraFAXModems. Tests show that in most cases, the SupraFAXModem is experiencing a high level of line noise. It is possible that another modem may work better in some cases. On the other hand, many users report Supra modems working better than other brands in poor conditions. We are currently working on some possible solutions that will enhance the operation of SupraFAXModems under marginal conditions. At this point we believe that it will be possible to enable SupraFAXModems to communicate on even more phone lines. At this point we can not provide specific information on how we will achieve this improvement or on when the solution will be available. But as soon as we have more details, information will be posted in this forum. Supra Corporation 7101 Supra Drive SW, Albany, OR 97321 General (503) 967-2400 Fax (503) 967-2401 Sales: 7:00am - 5:00pm PST, M-F (503) 967-2410 (800) 727-8772 Supra Tech Support: 8:00am - 4:30pm PST, M-F (503) 967-2440 GENERAL (503) 967-2490 IBM DOS & Other Products (503) 967-2491 IBM WINDOWs (503) 967-2492 MAC (503) 967-2493 AMIGA Supra BBS........(503) 967-2444 8 lines 24 Hours v.32bis v.42bis LAPM 2-5 CompuServe.......76004,565 BIX..............SupraCorp America Online...SupraCorp2 GEnie............SupraTech AppleLink........D2456 UseNet EMail.....supratech@supra.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To: All, We have made modifications to the STraight FAX! to support Class 1 FAX Modems. These modifications are currently in internal beta testing. We are looking for a few current STraight FAX! owners who have FAX Modems that support the Class 1 FAX standard. There are several FAX Modems that support Class 1 including the Practical Peripherals 14.4K baud V.32bis FAX Modem, the Hayes FAX Modems, the U.S. Robotics FAX Modems, the Rockwell AFC FAX Modems (9600 baud send/4800 baud receive), The AT&T Dataport FAX Modems and the Supra FAX Modem Plus, V.32 and V.32bis which support both Class 1 and Class 2. Class 1 FAX Modems may be identified by sending the command: AT+FCLASS=? from a terminal program. If the response is: 0,1 The FAX Modem supports Class 1 FAX only 0,1,2 The FAX Modem supports Class 1 & Class 2 FAX 0,2 The FAX Modem supports Class 2 FAX only Interested beta testers should contact NewSTar Technology Management via private E-Mail to C.S.SMETON. Please indicate the type of FAX Modem that you will be using and its firmware revision returned by the ATI3 command. Thank You, Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 70 Fri Mar 26, 1993 R.NELSON48 at 00:41 EST This question concerns the creation of FAX files using Caligrapher. I have STraight FAX version 1.07. I want to fax a caligrapher document so I call up the document from within caligrapher. I have the STFAX.SYS listed as device #21 in my assign.sys file. I choose print and nothing goes to my printer nor do I get any saved file. Hmmmm, this doesn't work. I choose print to disk. I get a caligrapher .PTD file. I rename it with a .J10 extension. Now I leave Caligrapher, go to STraight FAX. I try to view my .J10 file. FAX tells me, NOT A FAX FILE. Hmmmm, still doing something wrong. How, exactly (step by step) can I get from a Caligrapher Document with the .CAL extinsion to a FAXable Document with the .J00 ext.? Now that I have the capability of sending very good FAX documents it seems a shame to confine myself to ASCII text files. Also, what happens if I have some GEM or IMG pix as part of my Caligrapher document? How do those get saved and sent over the fax? /s \s \S /S ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 71 Fri Mar 26, 1993 R.NELSON48 at 00:44 EST Sorry about the weird form of message 70 This is the first time I tried to send out of a buffer. I posted same message on CompuServe. You need only answer once. Maybe the answer is in the above 69 messages, but I can't read at 2400 baud. So I will puruse off-line and wait to hear from you. By the way the STright FAX works great! Very satisfied, just want to get the most out of my equipment and software. Thanx. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 72 Fri Mar 26, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:46 EST To R.NELSON48, Calligrapher 2 and Calligrapher 3 both use GDOS printer drivers. Calligrapher 2 requires GDOS and the proper ASSIGN.SYS file with the STraight FAX! Original GDOS printer driver (STFAX.SYS) setup as printer device number 21. The STFAX.SYS GDOS printer driver should be copied into the GDOS folder which is specified by the line near the top of the ASSIGN.SYS file that begins with "PATH =". Calligrapher 3 does not use GDOS, but does use GDOS printer drivers. The STFAX.SYS GDOS printer driver should be copied to the FONTS folder in the Calligrapher 3 folder. Use Calligrapher 3's installation program to choose the STFAX.SYS printer driver as one of the two GDOS printer drivers that may be selected. Then select the STFAX.SYS driver when printing in Calligrapher 3. With both Calligrapher 2 and Calligrapher 3, set the output to print to disk as normal. Do not set it to print to a file. Standard GDOS drivers do not have the ability to redirect their output to a file instead of the printer port. Calligrapher 2 and 3 use special tricks to fool the GDOS drivers into directing their output to a disk file instead of the printer port. The Calligrapher 2/3 produced .PTD file is not the STraight FAX! file, it is what Calligrapher 2/3 redirects to the file selected with the File Selector. The STraight FAX! printer drivers know how to send their output directly to disk files. By default the drivers will send their output to a specific file in a specific directory. The STraight FAX! GDOS drivers send their output (by default) to files named GDOSPAGE.J01, GDOSPAGE.J02, etc. located in the root directory of the boot disk (usually drive C:\). The output path may be configured to a user specified path and filename by using the DRIVPATH.PRG/ACC that is in the PRINTER folder on the STraight FAX! master disk. The STraight FAX! print to disk drivers will handle GEM and Image file graphics in the Calligrapher 2/3 document. This should be transparent to the driver and handled by Calligrapher 2/3. Note: I would suggest that having atleast one megabyte of free RAM would be necessary to print Fine Rez FAX Files to disk. BTW, alot of the past messages have been archived by the GEnie Sysops and are available in the ST File Library. Search for "FAX" to locate these message archives. To All: We have developed new STraight FAX! print to disk drivers for Compo's That's Write 2 and Speedo GDOS. These drivers are available to any registered STraight FAX! owner for beta testing prior to formal release. The drivers may be requested on-line on GEnie via GE File Mail or via the Toad Computers BBS as F-Mail. Please send a private message to C.S.SMETON on GEnie or feedback to the Sysop on the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999 (300-14400 baud). We also have drivers in the works for That's Write 3 when it is released. That's Write 3 will use scalable Speedo fonts (the same ones that Atari's Speedo GDOS uses). Currently STraight FAX! supports the following applications for print to disk capability: Softlogik Pagestream 1.80/1.82 Softlogik Pagestream 2.1/2.2 Ditek/DMC Calamus 1.09/1.09n Ditek/DMC Calamus S/SL Atari original GDOS Working Title Calligrapher 2/3 GoldLeaf Word Flair II Atari GEM Output Migraph Outprint Other GDOS compatible applications Atari FSM/Font GDOS GoldLeaf Word Flair II Other FSM/Font GDOS compatible applications with the following drivers in development/beta test: Atari Speedo GDOS Atari Works Other Speedo GDOS compatible applications Compo That's Write 2/3 A new Drive Path CPX Module is available with the beta test drivers that allows configuring the default output path/filename that each of the drivers will output to. This CPX Module replaces the DRIVPATH.PRG/ACC that is currently distributed. In addition to developing new STraight FAX! drivers, all existing and future drivers are being enhanced to support new capabilities to ease the transition from printing a document to FAXing it via the STraight FAX!. Please stay tuned for details as they become available. The updated GDOS printer drivers no longer require manual configuration of the Print Quality using the Font/FSM GDOS Printer Configuration CPX/ACC or the Speedo GDOS Printer Drivers Program/ACC. With these versions of GDOS, the active print quality (Quality:) will override the configured Print Quality, if set using the appropriate CPX/ACC (Draft = Normal Rez, Final = Fine Rez). Charles @ NewSTar P.S. Dont miss our Real Time Conference on Wed March 31st at 10 PM! ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 73 Sat Mar 27, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 11:45 EST Charles - What are the advantages of using a Class 1 over a Class 2 fax modem? Since the Supra supports both standards, are there any good reasons to pick one mode over the other? Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 74 Sat Mar 27, 1993 AEO.3 [Lyre] at 17:14 EST Gordon, From watching this topic, I would have to say that it seems as though Class 2 Faxes are better. However, not all faxes are Class 2 - some of the older machines only had Class 1 fax capability. Basically the upgrade will allow increased faxing capability. Lyre 3:36 pm, March 27, 1993 ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 75 Sat Mar 27, 1993 R.NELSON48 at 18:51 EST Charles - 1st, thanx for the quick reply 2nd I deserve a swift kick in the computer (head) part. I was soooo carful to follow instructions in ST/fax manual, even though I found the Caligrapher 1 paragraph rather skimpy. It never occured to me that I was doing it right the first time. When I switched ASSIGN.SYS files and printed away without anything going to my printer I then looked for a new file on the same drive partition as Caligrapher. Nothing there = negative results. Tried all sorts or other things. Then downloaded the old discussion of this topic, all 200 or so messages and tried to guess what I was doing wrong from the slight hints here and there. Befor logging onto GEine today to find your reply I tried one more time going through all the steps. Calligrapher worked great (as always) STright FAX worked great (as always) and this time I even worked correctly. I thought of looking for a new file in my C drive and lord-y you should have seen the line up of .Jnn extension fax files there. I selected VIEW from ST/fax and sure enough, everything I had tried to convert was there, and looking good. Sometimes computer programs work on the first try, and you (or at least I) don't even realize it, so used to bombs. Any hoo. Thanks for your support. Thanks for a great program. Now to try and get the ASSIGN.SYS files switching back and forth with G+. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 76 Sat Mar 27, 1993 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 20:52 EST Great Support Charles David <>< ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 77 Sun Mar 28, 1993 R.JANSSEN1 [DAMIAN] at 00:48 EST Yep, I checked and double checked. Everything should be working as you say. I even stuck a little blank spot before I start spewing forth my answering machine greeting. Could it be that two seconds is too short a time for STraight Fax to hear the CNG tone? The ones I've heard seem to hav at least that between the tones. I'll leave a message on the Supra BBS regarding this mishap. I hope I can get it going soon now that I've been geeting so many faxes... ah... the sound of Springtime! 'Dig you later, \\\\ o-o Damian. ~ (R.JANSSEN1) \_/ [X] ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 78 Sun Mar 28, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 14:48 EST Lyre - Class 2 faxes are 'better' in what regard? I send a fair amount of faxes, and I've never come across a machine that I couldn't send to, so if there are machines out there that can't accept a call from a class 2 device they seem to rare. Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 79 Tue Mar 30, 1993 TOAD-SERV. [Dave Troy] at 19:24 EST FAX "class" doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with the quality of the FAX or the data that is sent. The difference between Class 1 and Class 2 is how the modem interacts with the computer to produce a FAX. Ideally, a FAX machine connected to either type of modem should detect no difference between the two. Class 1 modems require that the computer (STraight FAX) do more work in terms of formatting data, etc. Class 2 modems are more "automatic." To carry that analogy further, a Class 1 FAX modem has a manual transmission; a Class 2 FAX modem has an automatic transmission. But to an observer outside the car (modem), you can't tell the difference. All you see is a moving car (a FAX). Sometimes though, automatic transmissions are built a little weird -- the shift points aren't exactly right for the engine, etc. So, with class 1 (as opposed to class 2), you can control the FAX modem a little more carefully, and sometimes you can clear up compatibility & timing problems with certain FAX devices. But that's only if you'd had those problems before. Otherwise, if it ain't broken, don't worry too much about fixing it. Hayes and US Robotics both make Class 1 only FAX modems, so that's another incentive to try to support Class 1 over Class 2. As a rule, all Class 2 FAX modems also support Class 1, including the Supra FAX modems. Hope this helps. - Dave @ Toad ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 81 Wed Mar 31, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 06:50 EST Thanks, Dave. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 82 Wed Mar 31, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:28 EST For whatever it's worth... I inquired of a local dealer before the big snow about a Supra Plus modem, and he didn't have any. His supplier is in Atlanta, and it took several days to get in touch because they were closed due to the weather. Now the dealer says the supplier has no Supra modems because Supra is changing the chips in all of them. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 83 Fri Apr 02, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 18:03 EST Charles, I got a Supra FAX Modem Plus yesterday, retiring my ZoomFAX modem, so I can finally get on track. I seem to be overlooking something, because I get a "Can't find fonts" message and get sent back to the desktop. I guess I need to do the FSMGDOS thing, but am not sure where everything needs to reside. I have G+PLUS, if I can use that with FSMGDOS, and PageStream and Calligrapher. I just need to find out how to put it all together. I have a lot of messages from your topic, including one on how to set up the ASSIGN.SYS. (I already use FSMGDOS with Wordflair II, so I think I'm part way there, already.) Can you tell me where to look in the manual? Or is it in the README? (I don't think so.) Or can you just give me a brief outline? Thanks. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 84 Sat Apr 03, 1993 W.PARKS3 [Dr. Bob] at 16:00 EST Ken, I've gotten that error message too when I transferred STraightFAX! from one partion to another. I'm not using GDOS so I know that the message meant the Fax fonts. I copied the fonts from the font folder up to the STFAX folder and all's gone well since. Then again, your message may mean the GDOS fonts, I dunno. Bye: Dr. Bob ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 85 Sun Apr 04, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 15:08 EDT Thanks for the try, Dr. Bob. I'll try it. I _do_ need to find out how to make it work with GDOS, too. I guess if I use Calligrapher I don't need GDOS, though, but I still need those fonts it's trying to find. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 86 Fri Apr 09, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 04:15 EDT To: GRMEYER >> What are the advantages of using a Class 1 over a Class 2 fax Assuming a perfect world there should be no noticable difference in operation between a Class 1 and Class 2 FAX Modem. However... There are factors that can create some minor differences. 1. Class 1 vs. Class 2 can be thought of as Manual Transmission vs. Automatic Transmission in the world of automobiles. Or in the world of coffee: Brewed vs. Instant. The problem with "Instant" is that it may not be the exact way you like things, and there is little that you can do to change things, other than changing brands. In Class 2, there is a firmware program in the FAX Modem that knows how to implement the Group III FAX protocol. The only way to change this program is to change firmware ROMS, which does not happen very often. If the program in the FAX Modem has a problem connecting with some FAX machines, there is nothing that can be done by the FAX software on the host computer to correct this problem. There is one school of thought that says "leave the details (of the Group III FAX protocol in this case) to the experts". As such the "experts" from the FAX Modem chipset companies such as Rockwell, Sierra & Exar have written their Class 2 firmware. In doing so (using Class 2), you give up control of the low level process (Group III FAX protocol). The FAX Software is at the mercy of the Class 2 firmware program in the FAX Modem doing things correctly. 2. Class 1 requires the computer to implement the Group III FAX protocol. As such more CPU time is required by the host computer when using Class 1 vs. when using Class 2. Class 2 uses a more distributed processing approach, allowing the host computer FAX software and the FAX Modem microprocessor's Class 2 firmware to share the load more equally. Since Class 2 requires more work by the FAX Modem, this requires a more expensive microprocessor in the FAX Modem, more firmware ROM space and a more expensive firmware program to write. This adds up and is why a Class 2 FAX Modem more expensive than a Class 1 FAX Modem. 3. The Class 2 standard is not an official standard, its a de facto standard. It is based on the initial draft for Class 2 to the EIA. It has finally been approved, but the approved version is not compatible with the current version in use. As such the approved version will be called Class 2.0 to distinguish it from the Class 2 in use. 4. Because the Class 2 in use is not official, different FAX Modem chipset vendors have slight differences in timing and syntax/response of the commands for their Class 2 FAX Modems. This caused us to make several modifications to be able to support different Class 2 prodicts. 5. Again, because its not official, not all the features outlined in the original Class 2 specification are implemented in every Class 2 FAX Modem. As such some capabilities defined in the Group III FAX protocol are not available, such as FAX Polling and newer features such as Error Correction Mode. These features can be accessed in Class 1 assuming that the FAX software on the host computer knows how to handle these features. 6. Since Class 2 was not official, many vendors would not release Class 2 products (they were the main opponents to it and voted it down in the EIA committee several times before approving it as Class 2.0). As such many high end FAX Modems such as those from US Robotics and Hayes are Class 1 only. The best approach that I have seen is what Supra has done with the Rockwell chipset: Support both Class 1 & Class 2. Update the FAX Modem firmware on a regular basis, correcting problems and adding new features such as Caller ID and Silent Answer (which is not a standard Class 1 or Class 2 feature). As such you have the best of both worlds, which is why we are now working on Class 1 support. To: R.JANSSEN1, >> machine greeting. Could it be that two seconds is too short a time for >> STraight Fax to hear the CNG tone? There is nothing that can be done currently to change the amount of time (2 seconds) that the Supra FAX Modem samples the line looking for the CNG tone. If Silent Answer is not operating (i.e. detecting the CNG tone), then the STraight FAX! will not be told by the FAX Modem to answer the call. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 87 Fri Apr 09, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:57 EDT Charles, Well, it looks as though I'm finally getting on track with this new modem. I successfully sent a plain vanilla FAX to work. Now I have to try something fancier, such as graphics, etc. I'd like to try something really classy, such as a PageStream document, but will have to check up on the procedure for doing that. My PGS driver is still on my hard drive. Incidentally, the Supra FAX Plus cost me $139.95 at a local, former Atari, dealer. I'm sorry I was unable to get any satisfaction on the defective ZoomFAX modem from Joppa, but at least I'm in business, now. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 88 Sat Apr 10, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 23:04 EDT Charles, et al, I continue to become acquainted with STraight FAX. Today, I sent a coverage page with a graphic, and then used Output to print a copy of the file. It would have fit on one page, but it came out distributed over parts of four pages. I'll find out on Monday how the FAX came out. The graphic was rather large, but not too large. I should reduce it, which I apparently will have to do with a drawing program. ScanLite was in the MDX file for MultiDesk Deluxe, and when I selected MultiDesk Deluxe in the Desk menu, I automatically got ScanLite without selecting it. I no longer use my hand scanner because I have replaced it with The Wand, which I hope you will support soon. The closer gadget does not give the View Window Command Menu, the right mouse button gives it. That's OK. I note that your clipboard commands are the same as those in Wordflair II, using CTRL, while Calligrapher and Aladdin use ALT. Apparently there is no standard, but it would be helpful if there were. There was considerable discussion here about normal vs. fine. I seem to recall if you select fine, then you have to change another setting that you use with normal. Fine seems to be the only way to go when using PageStream or Calligrapher files. PageStream seems pretty straightforward, but it appears that using Calligrapher to generate files for STraightFAX will take some effort. I think I'll have to reinstall it to work with FSM GDOS. If you have any comments or observations on any of this, I'd like to know. There are some questions here, even though they aren't in question form. I may have to go back to some of my GEnie archives on some of this, but you could help me save a little time if you wanted to. I hope you haven't discussed all of this a gazillion times. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 89 Sun Apr 11, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 12:16 EDT Ken, There *is* a standard for the clipboard hotkeys. There was quite a bit of discussion of it here on GEnie among Atari users, with Bill Rehbock presenting the official Atari view. The standard is control-V for paste, control-X for eXcise, and control-C for cut. Atari wants developers to use the control keys for such functions and not the alt keys. Many European applications use the control keys in the approved fashion. I've been trying out 7Up, which uses the keys that way (and is one heck of an interesting word processor). Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 90 Sun Apr 11, 1993 J.HICKEY6 at 15:50 EDT Charles, I use Straight Fax exclusively with Calamus. Is there some way to change the default in the Calamus Driver to give me a normal(letter) page size? It comes up in half page each time I select it. My Calamus default printer is the SLM-804. I know that I could change that default to Straight Fax with the proper page size, but there must be an easier and better way. Jack ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 91 Sun Apr 11, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 15:59 EDT Al, Interesting about the clipboard. That means STraightFAX and Wordflair follow the recommended standard, and Calligrapher doesn't. Not what I would have expected! Did I read that you're in Toronto? I live about 10 miles northeast of Windsor in Grosse Pointe Park, MI. I'm taking a couple of busloads of geology students to Arkona and Kettle Point on Saturday. Certainly you know about those outstanding localities. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 92 Mon Apr 12, 1993 AEO.5 [Ed Krimen] at 00:01 EDT >The standard is control-V for paste, control-X for eXcise, and control-C for >cut. Atari wants developers to use the control keys for such functions and not >the alt keys. I thought control-C was for copy. Control-X is for cut, but I guess eXcise works well too. :^) (That's the first time I've seen it referenced that way.) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 93 Mon Apr 12, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 06:48 EDT Ken, I've spent many a day in Toronto, and many a night. And many a dollar. But I'm here in Syracuse, land of snow. Ed, Did I say "cut"? Copy is right. I like eXcise because it includes the X (as in eXit, eeXs! it's gone! and all that), but I was asleep on the C-for-copy part. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 94 Mon Apr 12, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 18:55 EDT Al, I knew you were out there east of my somewhere. Charles, I've sent a successful FAX in normal mode with a simple text file and a cover sheet and one in fine mode with a file from PageStream. Both came through well. The fine one was beautiful! I guess this is all I need to know for those two types. I still need to figure out how to send a Calligrapher file. That's a little fuzzy for me, and I'd appreciate any advice you or the others might have on setting it up with STFAX.SYS. It's great to have it in operation at last! Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 95 Mon Apr 12, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 20:37 EDT Ken - If you're using Calligrapher2, edit your assign.sys file so device 21 is STFAX.SYS and the only font entry for that device is DUMMY.FNT Then just print from Calligrapher like you normally would. If you're using Callig3, then _I_ can't help as I haven't upgraded yet. :/ I'm glad to see that the closer gadget (in STraight Fax) no longer brings up the options menu. I had bugged Charles to remove that, and I'm pleased he did. IMO, the closer gadget should only close the window, and nothing more. Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 96 Tue Apr 13, 1993 J.GNIEWKOWSK [GE-Lamp ST] at 01:48 EDT Gordon, Calligrapher 3 allows you to assign two different print drives, and allows you to choose between the two when you print. So you could have NECP.SYS and STFAX.SYS both assigned. John E. Gniewkowski Editor, GEnieLamp ST ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 97 Tue Apr 13, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 03:16 EDT In Calligrapher 3 you simply copy STFAX.SYS to the CALFONTS folder and run CALSETUP to install it as your second driver. You'll want to use the utility that comes with STtraight FAX! to redirect the FAX files to your STFAX folder. ===Tomas=== April 12, 1993 @ 11:56:56 pm PDT ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 98 Wed Apr 14, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 22:53 EDT Thanks, Gordon. I'm using Cal3 without an ASSIGN.SYS, so I'll have to set one up for it. I think that means I'll have to reinstall it with the bitmap fonts to use it with STraight FAX, but I'm not sure. I see some other advice on this coming through. Thanks, John G. and Tomas. I guess I don't have to have an ASSIGN.SYS file. That should be easy. Well, I attempted to use STFAX with CAL3, and when I printed, the file went somewhere on my hard drive, but I can't find it. Any idea what to look for and where it might be? There was no opportunity to label it. Re: The Wand. I guess one could just scan a document, which would be saved as an .IMG file. Then convert the .IMG to a FAX file. Wouldn't that work? Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 99 Thu Apr 15, 1993 M.MARIANI1 at 02:07 EDT Hi. I just bought a Zoom VFX V.32bis FAX/MODEM and was wondering if Straight FAX would work OK with it. I read some of the previous messages and learned that not all modems use the same commands. I would guess for starters that the baud rate would have to be set to 9600 even though the modem is capable of 14.4K. Thanks. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 100 Thu Apr 15, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 07:12 EDT M. Mariani, 14.4 is OK as a fax rate. There's nothing that says 9600 is the only rate. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 101 Thu Apr 15, 1993 J.HICKEY6 at 10:23 EDT Charles, this is a repeat of an unanswered question. When I use the STFAX.CPD driver with Calamus,(loaded from within Calamus, not used as the default) it comes up in half page(5.5" X 8") format. I then have to change it to letter size(99.99% of my transmissions). Can I modify the file to come up in letter size? If so, how? If not, would you E-mail me a driver that will do so? Jack ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 102 Fri Apr 16, 1993 MUSE [Tomas] at 01:44 EDT Ken Van, Look in the PRINTER folder for a pair of files called DRIVPATH. Your Calligrapher-generated FAX file is probably on the root directory of C. ===Tomas=== April 15, 1993 @ 7:26:17 pm PDT ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 103 Fri Apr 16, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:00 EDT Tomas, Thanks for the help. Yup. There are some FAX files on C. I knew they went someplace, because the drive ran and everything has to be someplace. I'll check them out to see if they're the missing ones and look at DRIVPATH. All, I scanned a flier with The Wand, but it was too big for the FAX page, so I reduced it about 10% with MVG (I'm not very adept a doing that with TouchUp). I FAXed it to work on Fine, and it came out fine. I can now get good results that way, with PGS, and with plain ASCII. Calligrapher results are close, so I'm in great shape. This is getting to be fun. The next step will be to try a receive. I appreciate all the help. Nice to be getting results, no thanks to Joppa. The Supra FAX Plus modem is working great. Too bad about the Zoom FAX. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 104 Fri Apr 16, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 20:49 EDT Charles/Dave - I have a suggestion for a future version. How about making the "receive enabled" times into regular editable field? The up/down arrows work okay, but I change that setting so often it's a pain at times. It'd be much easier if I were able to tab to the field, hit escape, and then enter a new time. Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 105 Sat Apr 17, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 21:20 EDT I'd like to have the capability of reducing the size of an .IMG to avoid having it trimmed, without the necessity of going to a drawing program. I wonder if that's too much to ask for. I have no idea what it would involve. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 106 Sun Apr 18, 1993 S.LIVERSIDGE [STEVE L] at 19:02 EDT J.HICKEY6: The only way I can see to have Calamus load your STraight Fax full-page driver as default would be to have STFAX.CPD as your default driver, with the full page selected. I think that Calamus works with printer drivers by using a driver and selected page size "slot." I don't use the laser driver that you referred to, but I'll bet that the full-page "slot" (selection) in that one is number three. In the STFAX.CPD, slot number three is the half-page size. So, when you change drivers, Calamus is still pointing to the third size slot. I don't have this problem myself. The only way it could be changed would be to have Charles change the position of the selection for full-size. But then, those of us for whom the setup works right now would whine. Of course, I could be completely off-base, but that's what many idle hours of playing with Calamus and printer drivers has shown me. Steve L. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 107 Sun Apr 18, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 23:50 EDT To: K.VANDELLEN > I'd like to have the capability of reducing the size of an .IMG to avoid This capability is already available by one of the following methods. You must have Font GDOS, FSM GDOS or Speedo GDOS Installed _and_ the MEMORY.SYS driver installed as device number 61 for each method. 1. When you create the .IMG file with a program like Touch Up, it also creates a small .GEM file along with it. Instead of selecting the .IMG file, select the .GEM file. The MEMORY.SYS driver and GDOS will scale it to the size of the page (Page Height in Page Preferences). 2. View a FAX file (i.e. full page). Select the Clear All command to clear the entire page. You could now save the window as BLANK.J01 for future use. Set the clip area in the window to the size that you wish the scaled .IMG file to have. View the .IMG file in another window. Copy its entire contents to the clipboard. Switch back to the blank window. In the Graphic Conversion Preferences set the Image Scaling to Automatic. Now paste the .IMG on the clipboard into the clip area of the blank window, it will be scaled to fit into the clip area. To: K.VANDELLEN > I scanned a flier with The Wand, but it was too big for the FAX page, so I Make sure that you scan at 200 DPI for Fine Resolution, otherwise the image will be too big for a FAX page. > check them out to see if they're the missing ones and look at DRIVPATH. > Well, I attempted to use STFAX with CAL3, and when I printed, the file went > somewhere on my hard drive, but I can't find it. Any idea what to look for and > where it might be? There was no opportunity to label it. The drive path ACC/PRG is used to configure the path of the STraight FAX! print to disk drivers. It allows you to modify the driver (in this case STFAX.SYS) so that it creates FAX files with a specific name in a specific directory where you want them to be located. If you have TOS 2.05 or greater, you can have the GEM Desktop search for any files on any drives by selecting each of the drives to search (use shift-click or drag a box around several drive icons), then select the Search command in the File menu. A dialog box will be displayed that allows entry of a name to search. Try "*.J0?" to search for FAX files. To: K.VANDELLEN > Thanks, Gordon. I'm using Cal3 without an ASSIGN.SYS, so I'll have to set one > up for it. I think that means I'll have to reinstall it with the bitmap fonts Calligrapher 3 does not use GDOS (in the AUTO folder or the ASSIGN.SYS files), however it does use GDOS printer drivers that must be copies into its own CALFONTS folder. Copy the STFAX.SYS GDOS printer driver to the CALFONTS folder and use CALSETUP to install it as your second driver. Keep the following in mind when using any STraight FAX! printer driver: The STraight FAX! drivers are no different from other printer drivers for the given application (GDOS/Calamus/PageStream/etc.). Get the program working with your normal printer driver first, then install the appropriate STraight FAX! driver as you would any other printer driver. > Re: The Wand. I guess one could just scan a document, which would be saved as > an .IMG file. Then convert the .IMG to a FAX file. Wouldn't that work? You can FAX the .IMG file directly. It will automatically be converted to a FAX file when it is sent. To: GRMEYER > Charles/Dave - I have a suggestion for a future version. How about making > the "receive enabled" times into regular editable field? The up/down arrows The ability to enter the Receive Times (From/To) from the keyboard has been added and will be in the next release. To: M.MARIANI1, > Hi. I just bought a Zoom VFX V.32bis FAX/MODEM and was wondering if Straight > FAX would work OK with it. I read some of the previous messages and learned STraight FAX! works with all Class 2 FAX Modems. We are also working on support for Class 1 FAX Modems in our next release. Some FAX Modems, mostly those based on Rockwell chipsets support both Class 1 and Class 2. To test the FAX Modem to see which Class it is, type the following commands: AT+FCLASS=? The response will list the supported Classes. AT+FMFR? The response will be the manufacurer. AT+FREV? The response will be the firmware revision. AT+FMDL? The response will be the model. The Zoom V.32bis FAX Modem supports Class 2 as far as we have seen and is compatiible with STraight FAX!. STraight FAX! supports speeds from 2400 to 14400 baud. However, when sending a FAX the baud rate is automatically adjusted to what the receiver supports. When receiving, the STraight FAX! can adjust to the speed that the sender wants to use (i.e. highest compatible rate). Most real FAX Machines support speeds up to 9600 baud. The 14400 baud FAX Machines are in the $1000+ price range. To: J.HICKEY6 > Charles, I use Straight Fax exclusively with Calamus. Is there some way to > change the default in the Calamus Driver to give me a normal(letter) page We will look into seeing if the default page size can be changed in the Calamus drivers. To: All Supra FAX Modem users We have been in contact with Supra and they have been working with Rockwell and will be releasing new firmware sometime in the future. Hopefully we will be receiving a beta release of the new firmware for testing in the near future. Some of the things that Supra/Rockwell have improved: 1. Fall Back/Fall Forward has been improved, when the data pump detects line noise. 2. Both Class 1 and Class 2 firmware have been improved, operation with sutomated FaxBack systems has been improved. 3. Silent Answer can miss the FAX CNG tone as it currently only "snoops" the line for 2 seconds after the line picks up. In the new firmware it will "snoop" for another 6 seconds in the event that the CNG tone is missed on the first attempt. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 108 Sun Apr 18, 1993 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 23:58 EDT M. MARIANI: I have a Zoom 14.4 v.32bis and it works great with STFax. I have even used it with a 14.4 fax machine. These 14.4 faxes are very fast. I wish all were 14.4. Daivd <>< ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 109 Mon Apr 19, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:44 EDT All, Is this page-size slot discussion Calamus-specific? Or is there a way to configure the STFAX driver for other applications, as well? Charles, Thanks for the detailed answers. Some of your helpers here had answered some of them previously, but I appreciate your support, and will try those procedures I was still having questions about. I'm sorry I have so many questions, but that will soon change, I expect. Actually, I'm pretty well in business, now, and my questions deal more with shortcuts, expanding capability, etc., rather than problems with using the program. I hope that you haven't answered too many of these questions a gazillion times before. If you have, the answers given before just didn't mean anything to me at the time I was having my modem problems. Perhaps your current answers will be useful to those with similar questions that are at about my stage on the learning curve. Thanks again. It's neat to find that a feature you had hoped for is already available, but just overlooked. Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 110 Wed Apr 21, 1993 R.JANSSEN1 [DAMIAN] at 00:17 EDT In reading the accompanying .txt file, I found that my versoin (1.00) of the Pagestream 1.8 printer driver was the cause of my elongated fax files. It also says that version 1.01 has fixed this. I cannot find this in the library or any of my old Joppa disks. Is it really lurking around somewhere? Also, it turns out that an importand new client has a fax machine with no CNG tone when they try to fax me. Will the new Supra ROMs allow STraight Fax to make an attempt to receive a fax regardless if there is no voice message being left on my answering machine? So far, I have only had silent answer function properly once after many attempts. It makes me look like I can't afford a dedicated fax line! :> 'Dig you later, \\\\ o-o Damian. ~ (R.JANSSEN1) \_/ [X] ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 111 Thu Apr 22, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 03:09 EDT Charles: I've sent two letters to you in EMail, and as yet have received no response. I'll try sending to TOAD-SERV. also, but am posting here as well, in hopes that =one= or another of these requests gets an answer: I am a registered owner of 1.06, and was promised 1.07 by Toad back in January. I received the mass EMailing which accompanied the upgrade, but since I was off line for over 30 days (my equipment was en route to Germany), the file was deleted. I would appreciate it if you would please re-upload the file to my email, or at least respond in some way. I'd also like to mention that 1.06, running with a Practical Peripherals 2400FX96SA modem, sends and receives in Germany like a charm! Thanks ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 112 Sat Apr 24, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 03:40 EDT How exacltly does one convert a received fax to a Pagestream doc for printing out (I don't use GDos...) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 113 Sat Apr 24, 1993 G.FUHRMAN [gnox] at 09:43 EDT PageStream conversion only goes one way. But you can convert the fax to an IMG and then import the IMG into PageStream (if you don't have another way to print an IMG). (Hope you got lotsa RAM!) gnox ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 114 Sat Apr 24, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 13:27 EDT GNOX: Yeah, I've tried that one....works okay to import the IMG file, but takes forever....waaaay primitive.. Thing is, I've tried running with GDos, and it works okay except that it insists on assigning 'default devices' for the printer drivers.... something I haven't figured out within the .SYS file, maybe? Sure would be nice to print out the occassional fax (though I don't receive that many, since I refuse to leave the computer on all the time....) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 115 Sat Apr 24, 1993 ZINGER at 13:30 EDT Help Anyone, Just bought a Supra Fax modem (14,400-v32bis) this week along with Straight Fax. It has turned into a "good news/bad news" type of joke and extremely frustrating. The good news is that the setup works flawlessly sending a fax of any type (Calamus files look extremely impressive, graphics and all!), but the bad news is I have been unable to receive a fax at all! I have tried communicating with 2 different brand of fax machines and both receive fine but are unable to transmit to me. When I try to receive a fax, the modem answers on the (x)th ring and displays "RI" on the modem, but instead of connecting, the modem goes back to the "OK" display. In the meantime, the Straight Fax dialoge box has opened up like it is going to receive the fax, but nada happens after that except a timeout. On one of the sending faxes the machine displays "comm error", and the second machine displays "busy". After 5 days of this I am pretty much exasperated! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have an ST at work and at home and the results are the same with both configurations. Here's my setup: Modem: Supra Fax 14,400 v32bis (v1.707-02 TR14-Jxxx001-122) Home: MegaSTe/4megs/TOS 2.05/CPX control panel-modem config-19200/None/8/1/RTS-CTS Work: 520 STfm/4megs/TOS 1.4/CPX-same as above Straight Fax(ser#R1001093): Modem settings-Class 2/Device 6(modem 1)/ 9600/RTS-CTS/ I-O Buffer 3200 bytes Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Hal P.S. I have installed the appropriate patch programs included. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 116 Sat Apr 24, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 16:34 EDT To: ZINGER, What are the settings that you have active in the Receive Preferences dialog? I suspect that you may be attempting to use the Silent Answer capability of the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems. The firmware revision that you have reported from the ATI3 or AT+FREV? command (v1.707-02 TR14-Jxxx001-122) must be a newer version that we have. The latest that Supra has told us (as of last week) that was released was V1.200-H TR14-Jxxx-001 (with Silent Answer) and 1.200-J TR14-Jxxx-001 (with Silent Answer and Caller ID). If you are attempting to use the Silent Answer capability, then either a person or an answering machine must first pick up the line so that the FAX Modem can "snoop" the phone line for the sending FAX machine's CNG tone. As some older FAX Machines do not send a CNG tone, Silent Answer will not operate with these FAX Machines. Also, Supra has told us that a future firmware revision would make Silent Answer more reliable as the current (1.200-H/J that we are aware of) firmware only "snoops" for 2 seconds and can miss the Silent Answer on occasion (check one of our recent messages for details of this). Another possibility is that the number of rings that you have specified is too many for the sending FAX machine and it may either time out or may stop sending the CNG tone, which confuses the FAX Modem. Note: the STraight FAX! counts each RING response received from the FAX Modem and issues the ATA command when the number of rings to answer after is reached. This tells the FAX Modem to pick up the line and answer the call. Question: Does the Receive FAX Status display the "Remote FAX ID" of the calling FAX Machine? Does it display the "Resolution" or connected "Baud Rate"? These parameters are determined from responses from the FAX Modem in the beginning of a FAX call. If it is not getting this far into the FAX protocol, I suspect that there is an incompatibility between the Class 2 firmware in the FAX Modem and the calling FAX Machines. Do you know the brand/model of the calling FAX Machines? There are documented problems in the Class 2 firmware when it comes to connecting with some FAX Machines. For this reason, we are in the process of supporting the Class 1 FAX standard (which the Supra FAX Modems also support). Supra's newer firmware is supposed to correct some of these Class 2 problems, but they may not have corrected every FAX Machine. If you review our past messages, you will see detailed explainations on the Class 1 vs. Class 2 issues and the type of problem that you are having. The older messages have been archived and are in the ST File Library. As it stands, there is nothing we can do in the FAX software to correct a Class 2 firmware problem. The FAX Modem has its own microprocessor and the firmware program in it is in control of the situation in Class 2 mode. This is another reason we are working to support Class 1, as the host computer FAX software is in control of the FAX protocol and can be adjusted if problems such as this one arise. I will check with Supra about what changes are in the firmware revision you have. We are also expecting a new firmware ROM set from Supra so that we can test out their latest changes. BTW, I would recommed using the Serial Fix 2.0 CPX/TSR available on GEnie as a replacement for TOS14FX2 with TOS 1.04 and SERPTCH2 for TOS 2.05/3.05. Its in the ST File Library. Also, keep the I/O buffers less than 32767 bytes (yours were already below this). If an external utility such as AUXINIT included with STalker 3 is installed, keep the size below 32767 bytes there also. If you use RTS/CTS handshaking, make sure that the Modem Cable has these signals. This only affects FAX Sending. To: D.KELLER14, > How exacltly does one convert a received fax to a Pagestream doc for printing > out (I don't use GDos...) Convert the FAX to an Image file. Run any application that supports Image files, load in the Image file and print it with the application. In a DTP program like PageStream or Calamus, create a graphic frame the size of a page and import the Image into it. You may want to save this document (with out the image) for future use. BTW, if we had the info, we would write import filters for Pagestream and Calamus S/SL that would allow importing FAX files directly. However, this would only save the step of converting the FAX to an Image file in STraight FAX! and would still require the importing step. I would suggest getting Font GDOS as it contains the most popular printer drivers and prints FAXes with little problems. You will probably need 2 megs of memory with most printers such as 300 DPI Laser/DeskJets and 24 pin printers. On a 1 Meg machine, there needs to be very few DA's/TSR's installed to print with GDOS. Font GDOS and the upcoming Speedo GDOS have alot of utilities that make setting things up alot easier than earlier GDOSes. Did you get the GEMail from TOAD-SERV. in response to your other question? To: R.JANSSEN1, If you have a version of STraight FAX! of 1.04 or higher, you have the corrected PageSTream 1.8 driver. > tone when they try to fax me. Will the new Supra ROMs allow STraight Fax to > make an attempt to receive a fax regardless if there is no voice message being If the sending FAX machine does not send a CNG tone, Silent Answer will not operate. An external FAX switch will also not work if there is no CNG tone, however some external FAX switch devices allow the caller to trigger the FAX switch to the FAX machine by entering Touch Tone codes. I have asked Supra if they would support this in the future. If you need this capability, you have 5 choices: a) pre-arrange with your when they will send you FAXes and dedicate the line to receiving the FAX at that time. b) lobby Supra to add it to the firmware. c) buy an external FAX switch device that has it. d) get a dedicated phone line for the FAX Modem. d) get your client to buy a newer FAX Machine that sends a CNG tone I would suggest that you try these in the order given ;-) Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 117 Sun Apr 25, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 12:26 EDT Hal, Return the modem to its factory settings (AT&F1, maybe) and try again. My Supra 14.4 bis has worked flawlessly receving faxes. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 118 Sun Apr 25, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 16:28 EDT Charles: Thanks for the info on font GDos...was actually considering G+Plus, since I like most of what Codehead puts out..... Yes, I got a response from Toad....believe you should have been CC'ed on it....was promised either a re- upload of the 1.07, or a disk in the mail....hopefully soon? I've had a problem connecting with one particular fax machine....it's a Panasonic, with an answering machine built-in, and requires pressing the star key for fax receipt....have programmed in the "DP*", as suggested, and can hear the machine answer, hear my modem send the *, then the fax tones begin....followed by a message "Remote Fax doesn't answer", and hangs up. Any guesses? Thanks! ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 119 Mon Apr 26, 1993 ZINGER at 21:08 EDT Al, Thanks for the response to my previous post/problem (#115), but I have already tried resetting the SupraFax (AT&F1). I also tried AT&F, AT&F0, AT&F1, and AT&F2. Although we have the same modem, I believe I have the new rom release (V1.707-02 TR14-Jxxx-001 122) which may have some as yet unknown "features"! Charles, In answer to your numerous questions regarding my settings: ~Silent answer is DISABLED ~Number of rings-I have tried 1,2, and 3 ~When the STraight Fax receive dialog box opens, that's as far as she gets-No remote fax ID-No resolution, etc. ~The 2 fax machines I have tried to receive from w/no luck are: Epson Priorityfax 2000 2 years old dexExpress 2500 (Fujitsu) 3 years old Just before leaving work (where the Epson 2000 is) today I tried numerous internal modem settings, but was not able to receive a fax successfully until in desperation I tried the MANUAL RECEIVE from the drop down menu bar and VIOLLA! IT WORKED! I tried sending several more in the auto answer mode to no avail, but using the MANUAL RECEIVE it seemed to work every time. In the auto receive mode the fax machine is sending the CNG tone (observed by listening to a speaker phone on the phone line), but after the fax displays "RI" (the ring detect) it goes to sleep, reverting back to the "OK" display. In the MANUAL RECEIVE mode, when you hit the space bar (to start the receive) the modem starts squalking back at the send fax and a connection is established with the "CD" display and then of course the receive dialog box displays the remote fax ID, etc. and the transmission completes flawlessly. Any more suggestions? Here are my SupraFax internal settings: ATI3 V1.707-02 TR14-Jxxx-001 122 OK AT&V ACTIVE PROFILE: B1 E1 L2 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 %C1 %E0 %G1 \N3 &C1 &D2 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &X0 &Y0 S00:000 S01:000 S02:043 S03:013 S04:010 S05:008 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S23:059 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S40:087 S46:138 S48:007 S91:009 S95:000 S109:062 S110:002 STORED PROFILE 0: B1 E1 L2 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 %C1 %E0 %G1 \N3 &C1 &D2 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &X0 S00:000 S02:043 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S23:053 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S40:087 S46:138 S48:007 S95:000 STORED PROFILE 1: B1 E1 L2 M1 N1 Q0 T V1 W0 X4 Y0 %C1 %E0 %G1 \N3 &C0 &D0 &K3 &Q5 &R0 &S0 &X0 S00:000 S02:043 S06:002 S07:050 S08:002 S09:006 S10:014 S11:095 S12:050 S18:000 S23:053 S25:005 S26:001 S36:007 S37:000 S38:020 S40:087 S46:138 S48:007 S95:000 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: 0=0 1= 2= 3= Any and all suggestions are GREATLY appreciated! Thanks, Hal ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 120 Tue Apr 27, 1993 S.KALEITA [SAK] at 20:42 EDT CHARLES, I just purchased Straight FAX 1.07 and I own the Supra fax modem V.32 with the latest rom upgrade including caller I.D. One thing that I have found is that after loading ST FAX and then exiting I can no longer get any responce from the modem when I load Aladdin. Not even by entering the AT command in terminal mode. The only way I found was to turn the power off on the modem then back on. Is this correct, or am I missing something? SAK :) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 121 Thu Apr 29, 1993 RRWELDIN [ Ron W ] at 21:40 EDT AL GO RHYTHM, I have a friend with a Panasonic w/built in answering machine and have not had a problem (except when line noise is bad). I don't send any special codes or do anything different from other FAX machines. His machine will give a voice message for a few seconds and then the FAX takes over automatically. If you not calling with a FAX you can leave a message. His is several years old but I don't what the model number is. I'll try to find out and let you know. Hal, I had the same problem once and nearly drove me up the wall because everthing was working but then stopped. What I discovered was that I had plugged a cheapy phone into the same line, other phones gave no problem just that one. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 122 Fri Apr 30, 1993 J.HICKEY6 at 02:02 EDT Charles - Today, using Straight FAX I encountered TWO problem modems which would not acknowledge a connection. I tried sending them with my old JoppaFAX, and voila! the went at 9600 no problem. Any suggestions? Jack ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 123 Fri Apr 30, 1993 D.FISK2 [David] at 23:16 EDT I'm having problems printing from Calamus. The Fax I send are recieved ok but when I want to print one to put into a hard copy file there are problems. A CALPAGE.J0? (approx 40K) PRINTs out huge Bar Code like blocks with only slim (1-2 inch) areas that are actually as per the original. It creates a 100K sized IMG. Funnily enough, doing a FAX to IMG CONVERT and then PRINTing creates a passable result with only a few minor bands down the extreme left and right sides. (IMG created is only 32k). Even PRINTSs of a standard no frill COVer page has dark bands down either side. I'm sure I've seen mention of this problem before (and a fix). All help graciously accepted. Cheers, David F. Fisk ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 124 Sat May 01, 1993 D.KELLER14 [AL GO RHYTHM] at 06:13 EDT I seem to be having a problem getting support from the STraight Fax folks on a small issue, and I can't understand why. Maybe sales are so good lately that you guys are overworked, but it's beginning to make me long for the good old days.... In a nutshell: = I was due to receive 1.07, but the file was deleted due to an unavoidable offline period of over 30 days. = Two EMail letters to Charles Smeton (requesting he upload it to me again) went unanswered. = Finally, Email (and simultaneous posting here) to TOAD-SERV. got a response: it's cost-prohibitive to re-upload GEnie, couldn't I just log on to the Toad BBS? = Explained that I'm in Germany, even more cost-prohibitive to DL from here....how about if we split the diff, and snail-mail it to me? = Toad wrote back, said they'll either do that or UL it here... "if you don't hear from us by (last) Tuesday or Wednesday, write again..." So...Hey Folks...I wrote on Wednesday...it's now Saturday...still no reply. Maybe it's in the mail....if so, thanks, but why not respond and let me know what's going on? I know people get swamped at times, but you guys have had the time to post here, so why not the time to answer the mail? = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Another =real= tech support question: when sending a fax, I frequently get a stuck-key chatter during transmission. A quick press of the esc. key silences it, though it sometimes happens 2 or 3 times. Anyone else experience this? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 125 Fri May 21, 1993 B.BEAUCHEA [Bob Beauchea] at 20:39 EDT Charles, Would you explain how ST Fax interacts with the two page size parameters. (Print and Page). I have been having a lot of problems receiving, printing and viewing legal size faxes. The cover sheet (8.5 x 11) is received and prints fine. If it is followed by a legal size page, the legal size page will not print or display. (I can send you some samples). Also would it be possible to show the page size on the receive fax log? This would be very helpfull in setting up the printer. Thanks, Bob Beauchea ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 126 Sat May 22, 1993 G.NORTON [Falcon Systm] at 11:52 EDT Charles, Do you know of any problems with Straight Fax and MultiTOS. We couldn't get the two working together. Whenever we had MultiTOS loaded it couldn't seem to find the modem (Supra 14.4 with caller ID ROMS). Without MultiTOS it worked fine. We were of course running it on a Falcon 4/65 TOS 4.02. Any suggestions? Graham @ Falcon Systems ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 127 Sat May 22, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 19:30 EDT Graham, I'm told by developers that Straight Fax does work with Mtos on a TT. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 128 Sat May 29, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 04:18 EDT To B.BEAUCHEA: The Print Preferences Page Size parameter is the size of paper that is being used in your printer, i.e. a DeskJet or LaserJet can have Letter or Legal sized paper. The Font GDOS/Speedo GDOS printer drivers can be configured to a specific page size, which should match the paper being used. The STraight FAX! will allow you to use the Default (Configured) Page Size (which is displayed at the bottom of the Print Preferences dialog) or to override the default and use a specific size. This allows changing the page size without re-configuring the printer driver via the GDOS Printer Configuration ACC/CPX (with Font GDOS) or the Printer Drivers PRG/ACC (with Speedo GDOS). The Page Preferences Page Height parameter is the size of a FAX page that will be generated by the STraight FAX! for ASCII Text to FAX, GEM Metafile to FAX, Image File to FAX, etc. conversions. If you wish to send FAX pages that are a certian height, set this parameter as appropriate. If for instance, you receive a FAX with various size pages, you have two choices: print all the pages with a certian page size or print different page sizes separately at the proper page height. If you print various page sizes FAXes with the same Page Size, i.e. letter and legal at letter sized, then the legal sized page will be scaled down to fit the letter sized paper. > Also would it be possible to show the page size on the receive fax log? This > would be very helpfull in setting up the printer. This may be added in STraight FAX! II. Thanks for the suggestion. To G.NORTON: STraight FAX! has been tested with Multi-TOS, however on 8MHz computers the system overhead involved with Multi-Tasking may cause problems. We suggest increasing the RS-232 I/O Buffer sizes to the maximum safe size of 32767 bytes each. If you have a Falcon030, you will need the latest TOS 4.04 on disk and a patch program from Atari called FPATCH1.PRG for proper operation. In a future version, true background operation will utilize Multi-TOS along with interrupts to provide reliable background send/receive FAX. To D.FISK2: > I'm having problems printing from Calamus. Are you attempting to generated FAX files for sending with Calamus and the STraight FAX! Calamus printer driver _OR_ are you trying to use Calamus to print FAX files (that have been converted to Image format) that have been received or generated somehow? FAX Files are compressed using a bit level compression, while image files are compressed at the byte level. Normally FAX files will be smaller than their Image counterparts. There are three "printing" capabilities that STraight FAX! has available: 1. Using an application (Calamus, Pagestream or a GDOS application) print to disk pages of a document as a series of FAX files for later sending via STraight FAX!. This requires the proper "print to disk" STraight FAX! driver that is in the PRINTER folder on the master disk. These generated FAX files may be pre-viewed with STraight FAX! prior to sending if you wish. 2. Using STraight FAX!, a version of GDOS and the proper GDOS driver for your printer to print a FAX file (usually one that has been received, as a FAX file that is generated in #1 above would not createe as good a hard copy output as printing the original document with the application and the proper printer driver for your printer, however this can still be done). 3. Received FAX files may be converted to Image format and then used by any application that supports Image files, such as Touch Up, Megapaint, MVG or imported into a frame with a DTP program such as Calamus or Pagestream. Note: STraight FAX! II will have a new FAX to Encapsulated Postcript conversion capability that allows a FAX file to be printed with via a Postscript printer or emulator (such as Ultrascript, Composcript or Ghostscript). To D.KELLER14: > Another =real= tech support question: when sending a fax, I frequently get a > stuck-key chatter during transmission. A quick press of the esc. key silences I have seen alot of situations where stuck key clicks occur, but not in the STraight FAX!. Usually hitting a key will stop this when it occurs. Its most likely a problem/glitch in the Keyboard CPU's interrupt handling by the 680x0 CPU. To All: STraight FAX! II added features: File features: 1. First Word/First Word Plus/Word Writer ST file direct to FAX conversions. 2. Monochrome PCX file direct to FAX conversions. 3. FAX to EPS Export (as described above). 4. If Speedo GDOS is installed, Text in a GEM Metafile will now be rendered using a Bitstream Speedo Font. 5. System preferences now allows default path to be set for each of the 7 main file types (IMG, P?3, GEM, J??, TXT, PCX & DOC). 6. For each of the file types above a parameter to use the last selected path or always use the default path when selecting files of the same type. 7. User configurable ASCII Text file extension (i.e. other than .TXT). 8. User selectable "Prompt on Overwrite" parameter. 9. The Tab Width may now be specified in ASCII Text to FAX conversions. Menu Features: -------------- 1. Reorganized main menu that uses the new Hirearchical Menu capabilities of the Falcon TOS 4.0x and Multi-TOS. 2. Load/Save as... Preference File menu commands. 3. New menu command to run an external text editor from within STraight FAX!. 4. New File Preferences menu command to configure above file related parameters. 5. Close Window command in main menu. Receive FAX Features: --------------------- 1. "Bad FAX List" allows you to ignore Junk FAXes by matching FAX ID strings or vua the Caller ID. 2. Support for the Canadian Caller ID format with Supra FAX Modems. 3. The Receive Times (To/From) may now be entered via the keyboard in the Receive FAX Preferences. Send FAX Features: ------------------ 1. New Quick Dial dialog allows entering a new FAX number/name on the fly as you send a FAX. 2. Quick Dial dialog allows manual sending from a Voice connection (i.e. the compliment to manual receive). 3. Support for FAX Modems that allow 255 character command length for longer dialing sequences (i.e. using Dialing Macros for Long Distance dialing), such as the Supra V.32/V.32bis FAX Modems and other Rockwell based FAX Modems. 4. The date order in the "Schedule FAX" box now reflects the Date Format in the General Preferences. Modem Features: --------------- 1. Class 1 FAX Modem support. 2. Auto Baud Modem parameter for faster operation with newer FAX Modems that have automatic baud rate detection. User Interface Features: ------------------------ 1. Enhanced 3D interface when used on a Falcon030 (TOS 4.02 or greater) or with Multi-TOS. 2. More descriptive prompts in the File Selector. 3. Enhanced Install program. Window Features: ---------------- 1. Mouse cursor automatically changes shape to indicate mouse has entered the window work area, a clip area sizing handle or the clip area itself. 2. Mouse can be used to draw/erase a pixel at a time, to manually edit the contents of a View Window. Printing Features: ------------------ GDOS Print Quality (Normal or Draft) may now be selected when printing FAX or Image files via GDOS. Print to Disk Features: ----------------------- 1. Speedo GDOS STraight FAX! driver (replaces FSM GDOS driver). 2. New That's Write 2.xx STraight FAX! driver. 3. All drivers now support the a FAX Manager TSR/CPX that streamlines re-direction of "print to disk" FAX files to a specific path/filename. 4. After generation of FAX files via a "print to disk" driver, the names of up to 33 generated FAX files will be automatically entered into the File List (for sending) the next time STraight FAX! is run. Note: ----- The STraight FAX! II release has not been set as of this time, however it is expected to be released during the third quarter of '93. Registered users will be able to upgrade at a TBA price. We suggest that all STraight FAX! customers properly register their purchase to be eligible for updates and product support. Thank You, Charles Smeton @ NewSTar Technology Management ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 129 Sat May 29, 1993 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 20:39 EDT I need some help. I have a ZOOM 14.4 faxmodem, STE w/4megs, running TOS 1.62. If I use fresh version of 1.07 to RECEIVE faxes most of the time (99%) the modem hangs up the line after answering the call. If I exit v1.07 and run version 1.06 the modem works perfect. The only difference I see in the software set-ups are the I/O input buffers. 1.07 is 256 and 1.06 is 8192. I changed the buffer to the 8192 in v1.07 but this did not change the receive problem. I have tried a zero TSR system and could not get any change. Any suggestion or comments? David <>< ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 130 Sun May 30, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 10:13 EDT David, The buffer isn't likely to be the cause. I use 1.07 without a problem, and without needing to strip anything else out -- but I'm running on TOS 3.06 and a TT. Sounds like the modem init string may be different between 1.06 and 1.07; check the configuration. I saw no difference in this area when I switched ffrom 1.06 to 1.07, but I may have missed something. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 131 Sun May 30, 1993 S.FARSHIDGH [NIMA] at 11:10 EDT Hi all, I just puchase calligraper v3.03 and it doesnot have the save to disk feature any longer. So how can we produce fax sheets now? Nima Montaser ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 132 Sun May 30, 1993 D.FISK2 [David] at 11:24 EDT WOW!! can't wait for II to be released. Well, what ever was giving me the trouble when printing (bar-code like bands down my page) seems to have cleared up - must have been sunspots or cosmic radiation. :-) Next question...is it possible for me to designate a file name other than CALPAGE.J0? when using PRINT out of CALAMUS using STFAX.CPD? My last one also relates to creating a CALPAGE from CALAMUS - I can't seem to get it to print "legal" sized (i.e. I have a legal sized CALAMUS document that I want to fax by converting it into a FAX using CALAMUS PRINT and loading STFAX.CPD.) If this is a case of "RTFM" I'll go peacefully officer. Cheers, David F. Fisk ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 133 Sun May 30, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 21:30 EDT Charles - STraight Fax II sounds great, thanks for giving us a sneak preview! If you're interested in suggestions, I have two. 1) I hope you'll consider adding the _name_ field in the send log. I still find the inclusion of the phone number only to be a pain. 2) The dialing directory file format isn't quite like the documentation says it is. The length for the phone number is documented to be a fixed length of 19 (or maybe 20) characters, but in reality it is only as long as the data itself. Would it be possible to pad this field out when you save it? It would make the process of interchanging information from the PLT file with other programs (such as Cardfile) a bit easier. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 134 Mon May 31, 1993 P.NEREO [Philip] at 01:41 EDT Does the FSMGDOS STraightFax driver work with Speedo, or should we wait for a new one? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 135 Mon May 31, 1993 D.FARRINGTO1 [David <>< .] at 03:22 EDT Al: Thanks for your thoughts and reply. I'm thinking maybe I boot 1.07, let it set-up, and then turn off the computer. My idea here is to save the registers in the modem to read them with a term program. Do you know of a good way to see view all the registers at once? I know the &V command will give some of them but I think I need to look at them all? I will try this with 1.06 and see if there are any difference. David <>< ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 136 Mon May 31, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 12:59 EDT David, If a modem meets the standards, &V shows all the registers. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 137 Mon May 31, 1993 P.NEREO [Philip] at 23:15 EDT It seems that the STraight fax FSMGDOS driver doesn't work with SpeedoGDOS. Will we be seeing a new driver soon? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 138 Tue Jun 01, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 00:34 EDT To: D.FARRINGTO1, There have not been alot of changes between 1.06 and 1.07 with respect to the Receive FAX (with the exception of Caller ID, which your Zoom FAX Modem does not support). In version 1.07, the Receive FAX buffer will be a minimum of 8192 bytes even if the listed size is smaller. If you use an external utility to set the I/O buffer sizes, keep them at 32767 bytes of under (for _ALL_ TOS versions). We recommend the Serial Fix 2.0 AUTO folder program/CPX from Medical Designs Software, as it will correct serial port problems in all TOS versions. It is available for download in the ST Roundtable. Make sure that Silent Answer is disabled, as it is not available in the Zoom FAX Modem. Can you send me your STFAX.INF file via GEMail as a file or else list the contents of the Dialing, Modem and Receive FAX Preferences dialogs in a text mail message? To: A.FASOLDT, > a TT. Sounds like the modem init string may be different between 1.06 and > 1.07; check the configuration. I saw no difference in this area when I The Dialing Prefix in the Dialing Preferences dialog is not a Modem Initialization string. It is used to dial special codes prior to the actual phone number, i.e. "*70W" will disable call waiting in most areas, "*67W" will block your Caller ID from the receiver, and "9W" is commonly used to access an outside line. All necessary Modem Initialization is automatically performed by the STraight FAX! software when it initiates a send or receive operation. The exact Modem Initialization commands are dependent on the settings in the various Preference dialogs, which in effect allow the user to generate a specific Modem Initialization sequence without any knowlegde of the modem command set. I have seen alot of users create a Dialing Prefix of "ATDT". What this Dialing Prefix causes to happen is: - Dial the Touch Tone/Pulse code for an "A" (i.e. there are 16 Touch Tone codes 0-9, *, # and A, B ,C & D. A-D are not currently used for customer use, and are not on telephones, but can be generated by the modem). - Switch to Touch Tone mode if not already in that mode. - Dial the Touch Tone/Pulse code for an "A" (i.e. there are 16 Touch Tone - Switch to Touch Tone mode again. - Dial the FAX phone number. Unfortunately the "A" and "D" dialed cause the phone system to create an unknown situation and the real destination FAX is never reached. Note: Dont try this at home, unless you are supervised by experienced telephone service personnel! To: S.FARSHIDGH, STraight FAX! never utilized the print to disk feature built into Calligrapher. The original GDOS STraight FAX! driver should be used with Calligrepher 2/3 and it will generate FAX files as per the path & filename configured into the driver via the DRIVPATH program/accessory (in the PRINTER folder). To: D.FISK2, > Next question...is it possible for me to designate a file name other than > CALPAGE.J0? when using PRINT out of CALAMUS using STFAX.CPD? My last one also Yes, use the DRIVPATH program/accessory to configure the STFAX.CPD file. Version II will come with a FAX Manager TSR/CPX that will allow you to specify the path & filename that all STraight FAX! drivers output to on the fly. The Speedo GDOS STraight FAX! driver, That's Write 2 STraight FAX! driver and updated versions of the other drivers will be available with version II and are available to selected Beta testers via the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544- 6999 (300-14400 baud). Please sign on, setup an account and send private mail to user #6 to request becoming a beta tester. Please indicate which driver(s) that you will most likely use. > "legal" sized (i.e. I have a legal sized CALAMUS document that I want to fax The Calamus driver is fixed to Letter Size, try the following copy the Calamus S/SL driver to the Calamus folder and name it STFAX2.CPD. Try using this driver and see if Legal size can be selected. To: GRMEYER, The features listed are what has been designed, written and tested to date. There will be other features added besides these. The Phone List is one area that is now going through a major overhaul. It will have additional fields and the version II phone list file will probably be in DBASE II format, so that phone lists can be created/edited with Atari Works or DBMan. To: P.NEREO, Please see the reply to D.FISK2 above for info on how to become a beta tester of the Speedo GDOS driver. To: All, NewSTar Technology Management is working with Atari Corp. to make the Speedo GDOS Starter Kit available to all STraight FAX! registered owners. The Speedo GDOS Starter Kit includes an installation program, 10 GDOS printer drivers, the MEMORY.SYS and META.SYS special drivers, 14 Speedo GDOS scalable fonts plus the Printer Drivers and Outline Fonts utilities that operate as desk accessories or programs. (P.S. The Page Setup command in the File menu of STraight FAX! 1.07, will run the Printer Drivers program from within the STraight FAX! allowing changing the GDOS setup or a driver's configuration without the need to install it as a desk accessory). The Speedo GDOS Starter Kit will also include a printed manual and STraight FAX! users will also receive the STraight FAX! Speedo GDOS driver and the FAX Manager TRS/CPX when it is purchased from NewSTar Technology Management. Final pricing has not been set as of this time, however an announcement will be made very soon. Any Registered Straight FAX! owners who are interested in the Speedo GDOS starter kit should contact NewSTar Technology Management via private GEMail at C.S.SMETON. Speedo GDOS requires a Hard Disk with about 3 Megabytes of free space to be installed (after installation unnecessary drivers may be deleted to save disk space). Speedo GDOS should run with as little as 1 Megabyte of RAM, however I would recommend 2 or more Megabytes, which should allow a sufficiently large Font Cache to be setup. With Speedo GDOS you will no longer have to manually edit the ASSIGN.SYS file with a text editor as it is changed automatically by the Printer Drivers program/desk accessory which is used to assign specific printer drivers to GDOS device numbers. Bitmapped fonts are in effect obsolete with Speedo GDOS, although bitmapped GDOS fonts from older GDOS versions may still be used. Care must be taken when mixing older bitmapped fonts with the newer Speedo scalable fonts to avoid conflicts with font id numbers (the Speedo fonts contain the font id number as part of the file name, which simplifies this process). Additional Bitstream Speedo fonts are available directly from Bitstream, from authorized Bitstream re-sellers such as Compo and from major computer outlets as "Bitstream Type Essentials" packages (these should include the same fonts in True Type, Adobe Type 1 and Bitstream Speedo formats). You should also contact your Atari dealer for Bitstream font package availability. Please specify 3 1/2" 720K Double Sided Double Density IBM format disks when ordering (or 3 1/2" High Density Disks if your computer has a 1.44 Megabyte floppy drive). Thank You, Charles @ NewSTar P. S. STraight FAX! II will take advantage of Speedo GDOS scalable fonts when rendering GEM Metafiles (i.e. created with EasyDraw, etc). ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 139 Tue Jun 01, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:32 EDT Now that several software developers are planning to make Speedo GDOS available to their users, I hope they will each have the option of purchasing upgrades with or without it. It sounds great, but if you get it once, you don't need it again. Ken Van ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 140 Wed Jun 02, 1993 B.STOREY [Billy B.] at 00:10 EDT I want to buy STraight Fax. Somebody who can sell me a legitimate copy, e-mail B.STOREY. (If it will work with 1040 STe and Practical Peripherals PM14400 FXMT modem.) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 141 Wed Jun 02, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 18:36 EDT Billy, You can buy STFax from Toad. Toad Computers 570-F Ritchie Highway Severna Park, MD 21146-2925 Work phone: 800-448-8623 Fax line: 410 544-1329 Modem line: 410 544-6999 Tech support: 410 544-6943 Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 142 Thu Jun 03, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 01:33 EDT To: K.VANDELLEN, Speedo GDOS will be an optional upgrade. To: P.NEREO: Please review the previous message to find out how to get the Speedo driver. To: B.STOREY, STraight FAX! is available from many fine Atari dealers and mail order companies, including Toad Computers (listed in the prior message). If you need the name of a dealer local to your area that carries the STraight FAX!, please leave me private GEMail. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 143 Fri Jun 04, 1993 S.FARSHIDGH [NIMA] at 22:05 EDT Hi all, I have the following question in using Calligrapher 3 with STFSMFAX. Before I go on, I would like to describe my system: TT030 with 4 meg ST ram and 4 megs TT ram (bought yesterday) with superVGA colour monitor and HD. I have had the program 'bomb' several times doing different stuff (the main source of bombing is having several windows open or calling D/As). But my main problem is that I cannot use STFAX.SYS printer driver for ST fax program. Using Cal Setup, I have chosen my second (and first and both, tried them all) driver to be the STFSMFAX.sys, but every time I chose it to print, it gives me about 8 bombs and returns me to the desktop at which time I have to reboot. I have tried setting the path to different paths for the fax document using the DRIVEPATH.PRG supplied, but no luck. Let me confirm that my STFSMFAX.SYS is in the CALFONTS folder and all the paths seem to be alright. It couldnot get it to work (the printing as FAX docs) using TT ram either) What should I do?? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 144 Sat Jun 05, 1993 P.GRIFFITH2 [PGRIF] at 02:47 EDT About a month and a half ago I bought a used copy of STraight FAX. I got a letter of transfer with it and sent my $2 and the master disk to Newstar for upgrade. It took a month to get the upgrade and now that I've got it, I can't install it. I don't have the serial number or whatever it is that I need to install. Should I have gotten that with my upgrade, I never had the original registration card, I bought this used. This is the lamest excuse for service I've seen in a while. I sent E-mail to Mr. Smeton a couple of weeks ago and never recieved a reply. If I can't get this thing installed in the next day or two, I will probably give up and get a Mac FAX package and use Spectre. There is at least a choice of software on that platform, some packages include voice mail, which I can use with my modem. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 145 Sat Jun 05, 1993 R.STEGELMANN [Rolf] at 03:52 EDT NIMA: I have the same set up you do. I have not had the same problems you do. Never had any bombs with Calligrapher at any time, including using STFSMFAX.SYS to create fax output. You say you just recently got the TT. I went from and ST to a TT a few months ago. I had to re-install much of my software rather than just copy it over to the TT. Calligrapher was one of them. Don't know what you did, but it should work. STraight Fax: Whenever I create a fax using PageStream or Calligrapher and then use STraight Fax to print the .Jxx file to my printer just to see what it looks like, I always get some garbage along the borders, on all sides sometimes. I am using a HPII. It does not seem to transmit the garbage for test faxes I sent to myself at work. How can I get rid of that garbage? It does not give me a very good hardcopy and it always makes me wonder whether it was received at the other end with that garbage. Rolf ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 146 Sat Jun 05, 1993 J.MORRISON38 [~ Jimmo ~] at 05:27 EDT PGRIF... I'm sorry you have apparently had a bad experience with your support from the authors of STraight Fax, in regards to your 'lack of response'. Are you sure you directed your inquiries to "C.S.SMETON", or to "TOAD-SERV.", the support retailer? Have you tried Toad's own support BBS (410-544-6999), or their info line (410- 544-6943), or their fax line (410-544-1329), or their orders line (800-448- TOAD), all located in downtown TOADVILLE? I trust that you purchased all the original documentation along with the used 'program'; this should contain the required 10-digit registration number? If you did not obtain this, I think you cannot really expect the product to be 'validated' for you. You should contact the person you purchased it from for missing documentation. The support for STraight Fax has seemed to be very solid, and I think I can speak for many STFax users. I can assure you that STraight Fax has proven to be a solid product for both sending and receiving faxes, at least for me. ~ Jimmo ~ ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 147 Sat Jun 05, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:26 EDT I'll support what Jimmo said. I've had no dealings with Toad, but Charles is very helpful. I haven't attempted to receive, yet, but sending works great (now that I have a working modem). Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 148 Sat Jun 05, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 10:43 EDT PGRIF: As to your registration number, it should be on the very last page of the manual (you =did= get a manual, didn't you???). As to your comments about support, I personally have mixed feelings about their degree of support. I will not get into the details of my disagreements with Mr. Smeton or the folks at Toad, as I have strong feelings about people abusing a public medium like this one. But I will certainly agree that I had a similar, ongoing experience with the lack of (and time of) response to personal EMail to both gentlemen....while I don't think there is a 'requirement' for online support time, I've seen this area go devoid of answers to technical questions for 3-4 weeks on occasion....a sharp contrast to, for example, the Codeheads, who rarely let 24 hours go by without fielding a query. True, Toad has its own BBS, and perhaps they have more of a presence over there. (I wouldn't know...I'm halfway around the world, and don't care to call overseas to find out....). But so do many other developers here, and they still find time to get on line here for support. STraight Fax is a great program...no question. But speaking as, firstly, a paying customer, and secondly, someone who has been involved for many years as an Atarian, a software and hardware technical support person, and an ST consultant, I gotta say, I've seen worse customer support, but I've also seen better. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 149 Sat Jun 05, 1993 P.GRIFFITH2 [PGRIF] at 14:12 EDT To all who answered my tirade, Yes, indeed, there is a registration number in the back of the manual(I did get one), but only by copying the master disk a few times did I finally get the Install. PRG to accept the number(on the fourth try copy). Maybe my computer is wacko or maybe I can't foolow simple directions. Straight FAX is now installed. Toad supposedly mailed my upgrade four weeks ago. I never got it. Twelve days ago they mailed another, since the first mailing never got here. I never got the first mailing, nor did I get something else they were mailing me at the same time. I don't think that it should take that long to get a package from MD to OR, but I guess I'm wrong. The only time time that anything that Toad was supposed to send me got to e quickly was when it was COD. Thanks. Enough complaining for today. Straight FAX is pretty amazing. Paul ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 150 Sun Jun 06, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 03:23 EDT Paul, If the mails are slow, Toad is not to blame. Yes, your drive probably is flakey. After eight years of life with two STs (and now a TT tossed in), I'd say that half the drives on all STs are whacko in some way. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 151 Tue Jun 08, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 01:48 EDT To: P.GRIFFITH, It is possible that the update disk was lost in the mail. I will have a new disk sent to you ASAP. I am sorry about the delay. The 10 digit Registration Number must be correctly typed into the Installation program in order for the STFAX.PRG file to be generated. This is a necessary part of the installation process and is only required once for each released version of the program. Obviously if one or more digits is typed in incorrectly, the Installation program will inform the user of this and not continue with the installation until the number is correctly typed in. > computer is wacko or maybe I can't foolow simple directions. Straight FAX is We have not seen any "wacko computers", but you would be suprised how many times users calling for support indicate that they have not read the manual or the README file (or knew it even existed!), looked at the on-line help, looked at the information prompts when running the installation program, etc. To: R.STEGELMANN, > had any bombs with Calligrapher at any time, including using STFSMFAX.SYS to The STraight FAX! includes two "GDOS" drivers one is for the original GDOS "STFAX.SYS" and the other is for FSM/Font GDOS "STFAXFSM.SYS". Calligrapher 2/3 users should use the original GDOS driver "STFAX.SYS". BTW, a Speedo GDOS driver "STFAXSPD.SYS" is available for free to registered users via the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999 (300-14400 baud). > Whenever I create a fax using PageStream or Calligrapher and then use STraight > Fax to print the .Jxx file to my printer just to see what it looks like, I > always get some garbage along the borders, on all sides sometimes. I am using > a HPII. It does not seem to transmit the garbage for test faxes I sent to > myself at work. How can I get rid of that garbage? It does not give me a very Two suggestions: 1. Rather than printing the FAX file(s) generated from an application such as Pagestream, Calamus, Calligrapher, etc., I would suggest printing the pages of the original document from the application if hard copy is required. The printed output should be generated much more quickly and with better quality. If quality is not the issue, most applications have draft modes that will print even faster with reduced quality. When a FAX file is printed, it is a bitmap that must be scaled to fit the resolution of the printer device. The quality of text printed in this manner will look as good as the scalable text that most applications can generate when printing directly to a printer. 2. Some of the older GDOS drivers (i.e. from the original GDOS, and third party drivers for the original GDOS) do not clear the memory properly. As such the "garbage" that is seen on the edges of a printed FAX file is what had been in memory prior to the printer driver being opened. This effect can also occur if there is limited RAM or if a TOS prior to TOS 1.04 is being used. For the best results use the printer drivers that came with Font/FSM/Speedo GDOS and the version of GDOS (in the AUTO folder) that shipped with the drivers (i.e. dont mix and match different GDOS drivers/versions). You can verify the contents of a generated FAX file by viewing it from within the STraight FAX! in a window. To: ALGORHYTHM, I wish the size of the Atari marketplace would allow us to hire full time support personnel. Unfortunately until there are 100,000+ new computers in the hands of North American users, we cant forsee any significant changes to expand our company. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 152 Tue Jun 08, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 21:01 EDT Charles, The other day I ran into a problem tring to print a document created using Calligrapher 3 to a fax file using the STFAX.SYS driver. I have ATARI GDOS 1.1 installed. This document is an invoice I created using several of the advanced C3 function such as drawing a box and creating a table. I tried switching to FONTDOS that I got with GEMvelope and it worked but severely screwed up the document. In the past I have printed to fax documents of reasonable length even including graphics wtih no problem. Could it be that the advanced functions of C3 are too much for the driver to handle? Should I upload a copy of the offending .CAL file so you can try it out? Of course that would only work if you have a copy of C3. I did that to John E. at Codehead and he (and I concur) pointed out that the problem was probably with the driver. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 153 Thu Jun 10, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 03:42 EDT To: O-ZONE, Calligrapher 3 does not require or use GDOS (i.e. the GDOS.PRG file that is placed into the AUTO folder). Calligrapher 3 however uses GDOS printer drivers to generate output. We dont have Calligrapher 3 here for testing, the folks at Codehead verified the STFAX.SYS original GDOS driver with Calligrapher 3. A little GDOS history... There have been 4 versions of GDOS released by Atari Corp. a) Original GDOS 1.1 GDOS.PRG b) Font GDOS 2.0 FONTGDOS.PRG c) FSM GDOS 3.0 FSMGDOS.PRG d) Speedo GDOS 4.0 SPDGDOS.PRG Each release has included printer drivers. The Font GDOS and FSM GDOS drivers are the same drivers, as such there are three generations of GDOS printer drivers. GDOS printer drivers are built using object library provided by Atari and with a small assembly language program that is unique to the type of driver (i.e. Epson FX-80, Epson LQ-800, HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet, etc.). The task of the unique part of GDOS driver the is to format the page image data created by the common part of the GDOS driver and send it to the printer. There is about 5% unique code between different printer drivers. The 95% that is common between different printer drivers was written by Atari and is responsible for building the page image. The STraight FAX! driver's unique part compresses the page image data and writes it to a disk file, which is the only difference between it an normal printer drivers. The STraight FAX! drivers were built from unmodified versions of Atari's object libraries, as such any limitations that normal drivers have will also be present in the STraight FAX! drivers. It is possible that Working Title (the UK developers of Calligrapher 3) have modified the object library to enhance the drivers that they supply with Calligrapher 3. Since Calligrapher 3 "bypasses" the normal GDOS VDI calling conventions (as it has a version of CodeHead's G+Plus GDOS replacement built in to it), there any also be othere limitations that drivers built from Atari's libraries may have. You will have to confer with Codehead or Working Title to find out if the GDOS drivers supplied with Calligrapher 3 are built from an unmodified version of Atari's GDOS object library. There are limitations on the original GDOS drivers in terms of complexity of polygons, i.e. number of verticies. The original GDOS drivers were limited to 127 points per VDI call. The FSM, Font GDOS and Speedo GDOS drivers have a limit of 1023 points per VDI call. It is possible that the supplied Calligrapher 3 drivers were "tweaked" to support a larger number of points. There is a method of determining the number of points that a driver supports. The VDI call vq_extnd can be used to determine this size. You might want to ask the folks at Codehead to determine the maximum number of verticies that the Calligrapher 3 supplied drivers can handle. The STraight FAX! original GDOS driver (STFAX.SYS) has a limit of 127 verticies. BTW, a program could check the maximum number of verticies and break up complex polygons into sections, which are processed separately by the VDI. You might try to break up any complex polygons within your document to see if this has any effect on the output. Basically, the part of the GDOS driver that we developed takes the generated bitmap data for the page and writes it to a FAX file. It has no control over what the page looks like and has no way of knowing if its correct or not. ------- Try disabling GDOS when running Calligrapher 3 as it does not need it. Another suggestion is to try the STFAXFSM.SYS GDOS driver or call our support BBS and request the Speedo GDOS STraight FAX! driver be sent to you there as F-Mail (Toad BBS: 410-544-1329 at 300-14400 baud). We have been told that the original GDOS STraight FAX! driver (STFAX.SYS) should be used with Calligrapher 2 and 3, but you may want to try it anyway and see if it helps. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 154 Fri Jun 11, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 06:19 EDT Today I tried to print a PageStream document to disk using the STraightFAX driver, and it was saved with an .EPS extension. What did I do wrong? It worked OK for me several weeks ago when I tried it. Ken Van ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 155 Fri Jun 11, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 12:41 EDT After much work I have found the solution to my problem and no one is going to belive this. As I have posted earlier, I was having problems printing a complex Calligrapher 3 file to a FAX file using the STFAX.SYS driver. The computer would either bomb or when it did print, the page was all screwed up. When the driver saves, it does so to the root drive, (BTW, if there is a way of setting the file path elsewhere I'd sure like to know how to do it) naming the file GDOSPAGE.J01. If there is already a file there by that name it will consecutively number any subsequent files. That was the problem. If the driver had to re-number the file that's what messed it up. As long as there were no previous files it worked like a charm. So I have set the preference in STraight FAX! to prompt me to delete any sent files. A simple but puzzling solution. Of any problem I have encountered in my short 3 years of working with computers, this was by far the weirdest. A befuddled Flakes ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 156 Fri Jun 11, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 19:03 EDT To: O-ZONE, The file path of any of the STraight FAX! drivers can be changed with the DRIVPATH program/accessory. This utility is in the PRINTER folder on the master disk. You can use the DRIVPATH as an accessory to change the output path prior to printing any FAX files to disk, from within the application. Just be sure that you are changing the proper copy of the driver, i.e. the copy of STFAX.SYS in the Calligrapher 3 folder. The process of setting the output path is one of the areas that has been enhanced in the upcoming STraight FAX! 2.0 release. To: K.VANDELLEN, The STFAX21.PRT driver for Pagestream can operate in one of two ways: a) with the output set to Disk File in the Printer Configuration dialog, when you print Pagestream will present the file selector. Pagestream defaults to an extension of ".EPS" because it is normally used to printing to disk Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files. The file that you created with an ".EPS" extension is a FAX file, if the STraight FAX! driver was loaded in Pagestream. Just rename it to the proper ".Jnn" extension format and it will transfer properly. b) with the output set to Printer in the Printer Configuration dialog, when you print, the FAX files generated will use the path/filename that is configured into the driver with the DRIVPATH utility (see above). Note: if you use method "a", you can only print one page at a time, otherwise the pages after the first page will not be present. if you use method "b", you can print up to 99 pages at one time. This method is used by all of the STraight FAX! drivers. It will automatically name the output files with increasing page numbers. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 157 Fri Jun 11, 1993 ST.LOU [Lou Rocha] at 20:36 EDT Charles, I am about to purchase a USR Sportster 14.4. Does/will STraight FAX work with this modem? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 158 Fri Jun 11, 1993 J.GNIEWKOWSK [GE-Lamp ST] at 21:14 EDT Flakes, DRIVPATH.PRG will allow you to change the path for any SF! driver. I have my Calligrapher driver set to print to D:\DOCS\FAXES. John E. Gniewkowski Editor, GEnieLamp ST ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 159 Sat Jun 12, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:03 EDT to: ST.LOU, The US Robotics FAX Modems are all Class 1 only FAX Modems. The current STraight FAX! release (1.07) supports Class 2 and SendFAX Modems. STraight FAX! 2.0 will support Class 1 FAX Modems when it is released later this summer. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 160 Sat Jun 12, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 08:37 EDT Charles, Thanks for the clarification on the PGS situation. I'll print out your message and keep it in the manual for future reference. We appreciate the excellent support. Ken Van ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 161 Sat Jun 12, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 16:59 EDT Good news on STraight FAX 2.0. I also have the US Rob Sportster and was moaning and groaning and using it with a 486 instead of STraight FAX and my Atari. I look forward to the new version. Sincerely Nathann @ DMC ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 162 Sat Jun 12, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 19:40 EDT Nathan, If users were to "persuade" US Robotics, they might change their position on Class 2 and support it in addition to Class 1. US Robotics is one of the companies that has never supported Class 2, in favor of the older Class 1 EIA- 578 standard. Since the version of Class 2 in use was never officially adopted by the EIA TR29.2 committee (because the large companies sitting on the committee voted against it), many companies will not support it. There are many companies that support Class 2 FAX Modems, such as Supra, Zoom, Best Data Products, GVC, and ZyXEL. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 164 Mon Jun 14, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:15 EDT 6/13/93 Notice to all registered STraight FAX! Owners ============================================= Enhanced versions of the STraight FAX! Printer Drivers along with new drivers for Speedo GDOS and Compo's That's Write 2 and the STraight FAX! Manager TSR/CPX that simplifies the printing to disk of FAX files are available free of charge to registered STraight FAX! owners via the Toad Computers BBS. The enhanced drivers include support to communicate with the STraight FAX! Manager TSR (Auto Folder Program) and CPX Module for the eXtensible Control Panel (XCONTROL) Desk Accessory to specify the file path/name that all of the drivers will use when generating FAX files from popular applications such as Pagestream, Calamus, Atari Works, That's Write 2, Calligrapher 2/3, Word Flair II, and other GDOS compatible applications. The STraight FAX! original GDOS, FSM/Font GDOS and Speedo GDOS drivers also will utilize the "Quality" parameter in the Printer Drivers ACC/PRG provided with Speedo GDOS and the GDOS Printer Selector CPX/ACC provided with FSM/Font GDOS to select between Fine Resolution (Fine) and Normal Resolution (Draft). To obtain the STraight FAX! Manager and drivers, call the Toad Computers BBS at 410-544-6999 (300-14400 baud). Fill out the new user account information and send private E-Mail to the Sysop or User #6 requesting the STraight FAX! Manager and drivers. A valid registration must be on file with NewSTar Technology Management before the STraight FAX! Manager and drivers are sent to your account on the BBS via F-Mail. If you have purchased the STraight FAX! and have not re-registered with NewSTar Technology Management (since January 1993), then please include the following registration information in your E-Mail request: 10 Digit Registration Number (used to install STraight FAX!) Name Address City, State, Zip Code, Country Phone Number FAX Number (if applicable) Date of Purchase (approximate if not exactly known) Place of Purchase Version Purchased (i.e. 1.06, 1.07, etc.) GEnie E-Mail Address (if applicable) CompuServe E-Mail Address (if applicable) Internet E-Mail Address (if applicable) If you have purchased the STraight FAX! and have never sent in the Registration Card, now is a better time than ever to mail it to NewSTar Technology Management at the address below. The archive file sent to your account on the Toad BBS will contain the following files: README.1ST Read Me File Documentation STFAXMGR.PRG STraight FAX! Manager TSR STFAXMGR.CPX STraight FAX! Manager CPX STFAXSPD.SYS STraight FAX! Speedo GDOS Printer Driver STFAXFSM.SYS STraight FAX! FONT GDOS/FSM GDOS Printer Driver STFAX.SYS STraight FAX! Original GDOS Printer Driver STFAX21.PRT STraight FAX! PageStream 2.1/2.2 Printer Driver STFAX18.PRT STraight FAX! PageStream 1.8x Printer Driver STFAX.CPD STraight FAX! Calamus 1.09/1.09n Printer Driver STFAX.CDT STraight FAX! Calamus S/SL Printer Driver STFAXNOR.DRV STraight FAX! That's Write 2 Normal Rez Printer Driver NewSTar Technology Management P.O. Box 122 Columbia, Maryland 21045-0122 Tech Support Line (410) 544-6943 FAX Line (410) 544-1329 BBS (410) 544-6999 (300 to 14400 baud) GEnie: C.S.SMETON GEnie Support Area: Atari ST Roundtable (M475 or ST) Category 4 (Hardware) Topic 24 (STraight FAX! Product Support) CompuServe: 73047,2565 Compuserve Support Area: Atari Productivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO) Telecommunications Message Area ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 165 Mon Jun 14, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 06:40 EDT Charles: I would like to know why NewSTar/Toad can not upload these files to the library here as well as placing them on the TOAD BBS. Though I may possibly be the only registered user in Europe (though I doubt it), the TOAD BBS is a long-distance call for quite a few people in the States as well...for them it is expensive, for me it is exhorbitant. This goes back to a discussion we had regarding emailing my V 1.07 upgrade as well.....uploading a file here costs no more than a few bucks even in prime time, yet we are only able to get full support through the TOAD BBS...while I can understand your not having a full- time support staff, I find it quite disturbing that your users have to pay to call there, when you're on line here. It costs me nearly $4.00 per minute to call TOAD...it would cost you about $3-4.00 to post the files here.....Could we, your paying customers, have a bit of accomodation from you and TOAD? ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 166 Mon Jun 14, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 07:26 EDT Charles, The whole point about having your (excellent) support here on GEnie would seem to me to make the Toad BBS a secondary source, not a primary one -- at least as far as GEnie users are concerned. And there are a lot more GEnie users than Toad BBS users. Why, then, isn't this upgrade available here? There is no chance whatsoever that I'll find time to call the Toad BBS, but I'm committed to GEnie. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 167 Mon Jun 14, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 18:48 EDT To: ALGORHYTHM, The drivers are being made available only via the Toad BBS for the following reasons: a) they can not be placed into any public file areas on a commercial service because portions of the GDOS drivers are a copyright of Atari Corp. b) if a) was not applicable, a secondary reason is that we are not going to make it easy for the hundred's of pirates who have illegal copies of STraight FAX! to download the new drivers. c) GEnie file uploads are not part of the basic services and it would cost us for each upload. Also, we have sent files to users in the past and the users may not get a chance to download the files before they expire (after 5 days from being listed). d) Because the files last for a short time period, we would have to re-upload the files upon additional user requests. e) Most users have 9600 baud or faster FAX Modems and can download the files via our support BBS in less than 2 minutes. f) NewSTar and Toad Computers can maintain exact control over the distribution of the files via the BBS. Several users have already taken advantage of this FREE offer of new drivers via the BBS. If a user is not in position to call the BBS, we will provide the drivers via postal mail as follows: Send a self addressed disk mailer to Toad Computers, with postage in place for the return mailing. Inlcude a blank disk and $1 handling fee OR without a disk a $2 handling fee. The handling fee should be made out to Toad Computers and is used to pay the salary of a Toad Computers employee who duplicates the disks, and handles mailings. The disk mailer/disk should be mailed to: Toad Computers 570-F Governor Ritchie Highway Severna Park, Maryland 21146 USA Please allow 7-10 business days for your order to be processed. Maryland residents should add 5% sales tax. Please include your name/address of your registered copy of the STraight FAX! and your 10 digit Registration Number with your order! To: ALGORYTHM & A.FASOLDT, A large percentage of STraight FAX! owners call the support BBS and make use of it. The support BBS is provided as a service to registered users in North America. We can not make special arrangements in North America to provide support overseas. We are doing our best to find a new distributor in the UK, as the last distributor failed to live up to his agreement to provide tech support and upgrades to users. Thank You, Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 168 Mon Jun 14, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 20:50 EDT Charles, > c) GEnie file uploads are not part of the basic services and it would > cost us for each upload. RE: GEnie uploads. I know you are referring to EMail attached files. However, others may not. Therefore, to clarify, EMail attached files are NOT free. However, library uploads are free once you get to the upload part of the library. ~~~~Brian ... Written on Monday 14 June 1993 at 08:45 p.m. ADT Not disputing rather making sure everyone knows what is and is not free. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 169 Tue Jun 15, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 06:57 EDT Charles, I'm a registered user. My info is on file. I don't use any telecommunication/BBS other than Aladdin/GEnie. I assume the SYSOP your message referred to is the one at TOAD. Is that the only way to get the drivers? Ken Van Dellen d8^) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 170 Tue Jun 15, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 08:07 EDT Charles: > a) they can not be placed into any public file areas on a commercial > service because portions of the GDOS drivers are a copyright of > Atari Corp. I was under the impression that there are Atari copyright materials right here.....the proper disclaimers are necessary, of course. > b) if a) was not applicable, a secondary reason is that we are not > going to make it easy for the hundred's of pirates who have > illegal copies of STraight FAX! to download the new drivers. While I can sypathise with this, I think you are unfairly victimising the rest of us....those who intend to pirate will have no trouble doing so regardless of whether the files are here or elsewhere. There's plenty of stuff not available on line here that's being pirated elsewhere. > c) GEnie file uploads are not part of the basic services and it would > cost us for each upload. Also, we have sent files to users in the > past and the users may not get a chance to download the files > before they expire (after 5 days from being listed). > > d) Because the files last for a short time period, we would have to > re-upload the files upon additional user requests. I am not talking about email with files attached....I am talking about files in the library. The ST library has files in it dating back to 1989. And this is, for you, a =single=, free upload. > > e) Most users have 9600 baud or faster FAX Modems and can download > the files via our support BBS in less than 2 minutes. Plenty of us have 9600-baud fax/2400 baud modems....sorry we're not all up to your standards. > f) NewSTar and Toad Computers can maintain exact control over the > distribution of the files via the BBS. Another fallacy....what's to stop pirates from DLing a file and placing it elsewhere? As you well know, pirates infiltrate systems quite ubiquitously. > A large percentage of STraight FAX! owners call the support BBS and make use >of it. The support BBS is provided as a service to registered users in North >America. We can not make special arrangements in North America to provide >support overseas. We are doing our best to find a new distributor in the UK, >as the last distributor failed to live up to his agreement to provide tech >support and upgrades to users. Since several of my email letters to you went unanswered, you apparently missed my offer to help you out with European distribution....I made several offers early-on, as someone long involved in the Atari community, at mutual support....rather than take me up on any, you chose to renege on a promise (yes, Charles, Dave =did= email me and say he would RE-UPLOAD the file...), slap my hand and lecture me about piracy and policy. When you choose to =assume= the worst, you don't exactly come across as friendly and supportive. Sorry, but even though your degree of informative-ness is excellent, I really think you (and your users especially) would be better off if you would take some hints from how other ST developers support their users here. Your policies are largely penny-wise and pound-foolish. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 171 Tue Jun 15, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 08:21 EDT Personally, I find the support offered by NewSTar and Toad to be quite good, and I'm pleased the additional files are available for downloading from somewhere. They aren't obligated to make them available via modem, there are plenty of devs that require the original disks to be mailed back with a few bucks to cover the costs. IMO, this is a very reasonable offer. Just my two cents.... Gordon ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 172 Tue Jun 15, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 10:04 EDT [Daniel >The ST library has files in it dating back to 1989. And this is, for >you, a =single=, free upload. Actually, 1986 at least. Why can't a serial code be mandatory to use the patch? Oregon does it all the time. Or use the original disk to verify the drivers; Codehead does that all the time. ANother solution is charging the person, via credit card, the price of the EMail attached file. ~~~~Brian ... Written on Tuesday 15 June 1993 at 10:32 a.m. ADT ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 173 Tue Jun 15, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 13:05 EDT I don't have a problem with the degree of support per se, Gordon. As I stated in my post, Charles is quite informative. (And, coincidently, since I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that this area sometimes went for weeks with unanswered questions, he seems to be on line more frequently...) My problem is with the completely inflexible nature of their policy. All of us who have done business in the Atari community for any respectable length of time know the problems of piracy, and I =certainly= do not disregard that....but I repeat my assertions that depriving =legitimate= customers of avenues of access will do little, if anything, to stem piracy, and that Charles and company could learn much from a simple examination of how OTHERS HERE support their users. Files can be encoded, for example...one company I beta test for has the files encrypted, and only testers know the key....I'd rather call the Toad BBS for 1 minute to get the key than DL a file for several minutes. Or why not get their BBS on line with Internet, for example? My personal experience has obviously been more negative than the average STraight Fax! user....my email was ignored (more than once), as were my offers of assistance with international distribution and support; promises made to me were not kept and then denied to have been made (and yes, I have the email to prove it); and I was made to feel like a petty complainant for requesting a lousy (but promised) $5.00 upgrade....I'm not saying that "the customer is always right", but making them feel that they're =wrong= for no good reason is just plain rude.... Yes, it's a great program....so why is it so unreasonable to expect a company to spend MINIMAL amounts of money to show their customers that they're worth the extra support? No, they don't HAVE to do anything.....but I personally have a bad taste in my mouth from dealing with them, and I sincerely doubt I'm alone. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 174 Tue Jun 15, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 20:27 EDT To: BRIAN.H, By uploaded files, I meant files that were uploaded as E-Mail attached to a message. > Why can't a serial code be mandatory to use the patch? Oregon does it all the We have found out the hard way that a serial number, like a lock on a door is to keep out the honest people. STraight FAX! has (internally) a very sophisticated system of registration that requires the user to simply type in a 10 digit Registration Number provided with their copy of the program. We have been provided cracked copies of STraight FAX! that have had the entire registration system removed! Pirates will spend countless hours cracking a program as it gives them credibility within their ranks. > Another solution is charging the person, via credit card, the price of the This would prove to be extremely difficult to manage. To: K.VANDELLEN, Check my last message about how to order the new drivers via postal mail. To: ALGORHYTHM (D. Keller), This will be my final post on this subject as I would suspect that the] majority of the user base would rather see us concentrating on our development efforts on STraight FAX! 2.0. > I was under the impression that there are Atari copyright materials right > here.....the proper disclaimers are necessary, of course. NewSTar Technology Management has signed a license agreement with Atari Corp. to be able to develop the STraight FAX! GDOS drivers. The GDOS drivers are built using an Atari provided object library and as part of our agreement with Atari we must abide by the terms of this agreement. This agreement does not provide for us to upload these drivers in a public file area. It is an entirely different matter how Atari Corp. chooses to distribute their their own copyrighted materials. > While I can sypathise with this, I think you are unfairly victimising the rest > of us....those who intend to pirate will have no trouble doing so regardless > of whether the files are here or elsewhere. There's plenty of stuff not > available on line here that's being pirated elsewhere. The fact is that if we send the files to a registered user and they show up on a pirate BBS, the registered user has committed a crime and there is a trail that we can track back to that registered user. However, if we place the files on-line for any one to download, then we can not control who has access to these files and it would not be condsidered a crime to download these files. > I am not talking about email with files attached....I am talking about files If the entire software development industry trusted the fact that only registered users would download updates available in a pulbic file area, then this method of updates would be more widely available than it currently is. We have always sent updates via a file attached to a mail message in the past. > Another fallacy....what's to stop pirates from DLing a file and placing it > elsewhere? As you well know, pirates infiltrate systems quite ubiquitously. You have incorrectly assumed that we place these files in a public file area on the Toad BBS. The update archive file is only sent via F-Mail (i.e a file attached to a message) upon request by a registered user. The registered user must show proof of ownership in the form of name, address and the 10 digit registration number. There is no way for a pirate to download these files. If a user who is sent these files illegally gives them to another user or places them on a pirate BBS, we have a way to track this back to that user. > Since several of my email letters to you went unanswered, you apparently It is possible that we missed your letters in the same way that you missed downloading the version 1.07 update. I have been very busy developing the new version 2.0 of STraight FAX! and Dave Troy has been very busy running his Atari dealership, installing a new customer ordering system and a thousand other tasks he has to attend to. As these drivers and utilities were not advertized as part of the Staright FAX! as it had been purchased, we have no obligation to provide them free of charge to any users. These drivers and the FAX Manager utilities are not an upgrade in terms of a bug fix that corrects a defect, but rather added functionality to the program based on new development efforts. > of assistance with international distribution and support; promises made to me We are in the process of arranging for a new company in Europe to distribute the STraight FAX! While I appreciate the offer, I think our efforts and those of the user base would be better served by working with an existing established company in the Europe. Unfortunately, the last company that distributed the STraight FAX! in Europe failed to live up to their agreement by failing to provide tech support, product updates and sending us the Registration Cards. One final point to Mr. Keller... The copy of STraight FAX! that you purchased was manufactured during the time that the previous marketing company distributed the STraight FAX!. Due to reasons that I can not go discuss at this time, the agreement with that company was terminated in December of '92. At that time a number of copies of the program were in the distribution pipeline and on dealer shelves. There was no way for NewSTar to recover or exchange these older copies with copies that were manufactured by us. Upon the termination of the agreement with the previous marketing company, NewSTar Technology Management agreed to provide update and support to users who had purchased copies manufactured by the previous marketing company. NewSTar also arranged with Toad Computers to assist with technical support for new and past STraight FAX! customers. While we agreed to provide technical support and updates to previous STraight FAX! owners, we would have been fully within our rights to not have provided support to these customers until a time that the previous marketing company had lived up to their legal responsibilities. We chose to provide the technical support and updates to the previous owners, at our own expense despite the fact that NewSTar Technology Management did not benefit from these previous sales. To: GRMEYER, Thank You Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 175 Tue Jun 15, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 21:15 EDT Charles, I understand what you are saying. I'm just not agreeing. It seems a poor use of GEnie's excellent telecomm facilities to use it to announce that a BBS is the place to get upgrades. I'll mail in a disk... Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 176 Tue Jun 15, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 21:35 EDT To: A.FASOLDT, GEnie is not the only commercial on-line service. Its rates are better than others, but if we offered a service here we would get more complaints from users of the other services asking why we dont offer the upgrades their also. Please keep in mind that we dont have the resources of mega-software companies like Microsoft, Lotus, Borland, etc. Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 177 Tue Jun 15, 1993 POTECHIN [Nathan] at 21:56 EDT None of us do Charles. ;-) Meanwhile, I was installing WinFax on my "other" platform computer today and I found it quite interesting when I tried to send a test fax. A dialog box popped up asking me to fill in my name, address, serial number etc., then dialed a North American wide 800 number and sent a fax to DelRina, the publishers, registering the software. Without this being done, the software wouldn't work. What a concept. ;-) Of course this could only work with fax software. ;-) Nathan @ DMC ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 178 Tue Jun 15, 1993 R.SNYDER6 [Roger S.] at 23:29 EDT I think offering the files by mail is adequate customer service. Allowing for BBS upgrading is a bonus. I see very few upgrades that are done in any means except by mail. My beef would be with the offering for upgrades for $30- $40 that are just bug fixes in the program to make it run like it was advertised. --Roger S. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 179 Tue Jun 15, 1993 MIKE.KELLER [ST Aladdin] at 23:31 EST Sorry, I can't stand it when I see lists all goofy looking! || The archive file sent to your account on the Toad BBS will || ||contain the following files: || README.1ST Read Me File Documentation STFAXMGR.PRG STraight FAX! Manager TSR STFAXMGR.CPX STraight FAX! Manager CPX STFAXSPD.SYS STraight FAX! Speedo GDOS Printer Driver STFAXFSM.SYS STraight FAX! FONT GDOS/FSM GDOS Printer Driver STFAX.SYS STraight FAX! Original GDOS Printer Driver STFAX21.PRT STraight FAX! PageStream 2.1/2.2 Printer Driver STFAX18.PRT STraight FAX! PageStream 1.8x Printer Driver STFAX.CPD STraight FAX! Calamus 1.09/1.09n Printer Driver STFAX.CDT STraight FAX! Calamus S/SL Printer Driver STFAXNOR.DRV STraight FAX! That's Write 2 Normal Rez Printer Driver ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 180 Wed Jun 16, 1993 K.ESTES [Kenne@SFRT] at 00:01 EDT Same thing happens with Global Village and GlobalFax for my PB100. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 181 Wed Jun 16, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 00:59 EDT Nathan, Delrina was founded by an ex-Atari developer Mark Skapinker. Atarian's may remember him as the developer of the Thunder spelling checker desk accessory. Delrina's first PC application was Per Form which ran under the IBM version of GEM. Per Form Pro was later released as a Windows application. Most of their new applications are all Windows based. Delrina was started only 5 years ago and now has over 150 employees and has shipped more than 500,000 copies of Win FAX. Delrina is also located in Toronto, Canada (one of your favorite cities Nathan ;-) I am hoping that I can one day sell %1 as many copies of STraight FAX! as Win FAX. Charles ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 182 Wed Jun 16, 1993 J.KRZYSZTOW [JEFFREY] at 01:03 EDT Al, I beg to differ with your comment about announcing a BBS for obtaining upgrades. Beckemeyer Development has been doing this for a number of years now. Double-Click also did this for a while. I see nothing your with this method. And Charles did provide a mail alternative. Jeffrey ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 183 Wed Jun 16, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 03:24 EDT Charles, The fact that I find Straight FAX! to be one helluva program shouldn't get in the way of what I want to say about how your support is being skewed by your legitimate concern about piracy. You're not going to make life any more difficult for the pirates by making life more difficult for your paying users; you just make us upset. I, for one, do not at all appreciate the assumption that users are pirates unless they prove otherwise, although I understand VERY well why you feel that way, and I synmpathize with your position. I just plain don't agree that you need to whack us over the head with lectures about piracy and about support. Your support has been excellent except for this one matter, and I appreciate all that you've done in the past. As for the users (myself included) who purchased ST FAX! from Joppa -- I did so at one of the shows, along with the purchase of a Supra modem -- I am not sure what point there is in beating us for having chosen Jpppa instead of another source. Joppa was (so we thought, at least) a legitimate dealer, and the product is legit, and the uses to which we put it are legit, and you are supporting your software, and that's all well and good. The fact that we purchased it from A or B should not matter at all. Personally, I would like to see you work more closely with GEnie in finding a secure way of distributing upgrades here. GEnie has a lot more clout than the Toad BBS, and reaches a lot more users. Wouldn't that make sense to you? And as for the agreement with Atari regarding the distribution of one of its copyrighted products, a quick call to Atari could straighten that out. Atari has no intererst in seeing its dwindling user base fall any more than it already has, and surerly would cooperate in this matter. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 184 Wed Jun 16, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 05:54 EDT Charles: Once again, you seem to be missing/ingoring my point. It is NOT the fault of your legitimate users that piracy is rampant. Nor is it our fault that your original agreement with Joppa did not work out. It is for YOU, the person who hangs out his shingle as a developer, to provide support. It's part and parcel of the nature of a business. No, you're not in any way bound to provide support for those of us who were unfortunate enough to discover your excellent program during the Joppa days....but if not you, than WHO?? It is unfortunate that piracy exists at all, but I'll say it again: you are coming across with stance that says we are all guilty untill proven innocent! As to the Atari drivers, any Atari developer I've worked with has simply picked up the phone (or, uhh, how bout a fax...) to Atari and worked out the details. I can't see any reason they'd deny you an opportunity to support their valued and dwindling user base. >The fact is that if we send the files to a registered user and they show up on >a pirate BBS, the registered user has committed a crime and there is a trail >that we can track back to that registered user. So tell me, Charles....have you been any luckier than the rest of us as tracking down the source of the piracy of your program? Pirates are sophisticated enough to figure out how to REMOVE that evidence. That's why they're pirates! >It is possible that we missed your letters in the same way that you missed >downloading the version 1.07 update. No Charles....I missed the DL because my computers were on a ship headed for Europe for 6 weeks. You and Dave did not miss my letters, since you eventually answered them. The problem was that Dave said he would re-send a file, and asked me to remind him if I didn't receive it. When I reminded him, I was lectured by you on piracy and chastised by him for being petty. > >As these drivers and utilities were not advertized as part of the Staright >FAX! as it had been purchased, we have no obligation to provide them free of >charge to any users. Exactly my point..."we are not obligated..." No, Charles, you're not obligated to do anything....it's just good business. >We are in the process of arranging for a new company in Europe to distribute >the STraight FAX! While I appreciate the offer, I think our efforts and those >of the user base would be better served by working with an existing >established company in the Europe. If you HAD read my mail, you'd know that I was not offering to distribute your product out of my living room....I was offering to connect you with any of several ESTABLISHED distributors....rather than even check into my background and connections, you chose to assume an attitude. > While we agreed to provide technical >support and updates to previous STraight FAX! owners, we would have been fully >within our rights to not have provided support to these customers until a time >that the previous marketing company had lived up to their legal >responsibilities. >We chose to provide the technical support and updates to the previous owners, >at our own expense despite the fact that NewSTar Technology Management did not >benefit from these previous sales. This is PRECISELY what I'm talking about, Charles! You are not =obligated= to provide support for us, it's just plain good business practice. You DO benefit by new customer referrals from happy customers. My beef with you is that you seem more concerned with your problems with Joppa and piracy than you do with good customer relations. I've said it before...your program is excellent. Your degree of informativeness here is also excellent. But WE are not to blame for your problems with Joppa, nor could we have forseen them and waited to purchase the program...IMO, you DO owe us that support, if not legally, than morally. WE are also not to blame for the rampant piracy in the industry. You as a developer can only do what every other developer does -- make every reasonable effort to strike a balance between protecing yourself and providing support. I feel the scales are a bit too skewed. As I've said repeatedly, THE PROGRAM IS EXCELLENT....if I hold an unpopular position by pointing out that writing a good program is only one part of the package, then so be it. Customer relations is an integral part of any business. I produce records for a living....if all I had to do was make good music, I'd have been rich a long time ago (and believe me, there's far more piracy in MY business). Anyone who knows me personally, or has seen me around this medium for a while, knows that I am not normally one with an attitude....I try to be a helpful, supportive member of this community....I only expect treatment in kind. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 185 Wed Jun 16, 1993 NEVIN-S at 07:39 EDT Nathan, I also use WinFax on my Windows machine,and was very impressed by that registration system! --Nevin ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 186 Wed Jun 16, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 19:17 EDT Charles, Don't get discouraged. We tend to be very vocal; the smaller the user community, the louder it gets. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 187 Wed Jun 16, 1993 S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES] at 23:32 EDT Charles, For all it's worth, I don't find your policy, nor support in the least bit lacking and greatly appreciate the fact that you are VOLUNTARILY giving us this FREE upgrade that is NOT DUE TO ANY BUG but rather simply a form of EXTRA SERVICE. For the rest of you, remember what we are getting here - this is a FREEBIE and we should be grateful, not vindictive. Save the criticism for someone who fails to deliver, not someone who goes above and beyond the call etc. I would not find it at all unreasonable for you to not offer any further upgrades until 2.0 is done, then charge for them. THINK ABOUT IT FOLKS! Daniel K., Why are you jumping Charles - you've gotten more than you paid for and therefore more than you deserve! As a developer, Charles only owes us if he failed to deliver what he promised. He did not - the program works as advertized. I lambast dealers daily who fail to come through but it is absurd to go stomping on someone who is trying to do not only the right thing, but one better! And that's my opinion. Steve K. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 188 Thu Jun 17, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 03:27 EDT Daniel, Well said. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 189 Thu Jun 17, 1993 A.FASOLDT [Al Fasoldt] at 07:39 EDT Steve, Wow! So Daniel got more than he deserved, eh? The tone here has dropped to a new low for this area, and it's time it came back up. Charles does a great job supporting ST FAX, and he should be (and IS BEING) praised for it. But when in the name of the seven blind drarfs is a legitimate difference of opinion any cause for such rancor from another customer? I saw nothing vindictive in Daniel's posts, and I saw no reason for another ST FAX customer to refer to his attitude as "vindictive." An apology is in order. Al ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 190 Thu Jun 17, 1993 K.VANDELLEN [Ken Van] at 07:59 EDT Charles, Thanks. I caught your answer on the same pass as my post. Pretty fast! I'll use the mail. Fair enough! You'd be a fool to put an upgrade in the GEnie library. I don't think anyone else does it. Of course, this isn't an upgrade, but I don't think there's a need for all the furor. It's cheaper to send in a disk than to argue here. I, for one, am getting tired of downloading long messages with a lot of personal griping. I wish folks would send that stuff in GEmail. I'll be glad to see you get back to support. Remember, no matter what you do, some will be dissatisfied. I learned that a long time ago. I remember Mark's name on Thunder. Roger, I'm with you. I've been annoyed with paying for an upgrade to get what I thought I had bought in the first place. Ken Van ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 191 Thu Jun 17, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 08:04 EDT S.KIEPE [Steve@CNOTES]: > >Daniel K., > >Why are you jumping Charles - you've gotten more than you paid for and >therefore more than you deserve! As a developer, Charles only owes us if he >failed to deliver what he promised. As to my personal situation, Steve, Charles and Dave DID fail to deliver what they promised....Dave promised me an upgrade, and reneged on the promise....more importantly, I was made to feel cheap for the request. And as for "more than I deserve", 'scuse me, but as a paying customer, I deserve what the seller is advertising. I purchased an old version....was promised a current one....got a next-to-current one instead. I =deserve= what the Toad representative told me in email I would receive. > - the program works as advertized. If you've read my posts, I've repeatedly said the program works great. I am NOT lambasting Charles for his program, only for his business practices. Consider this analogy: You've got two stores in your town. (what type of store is irrelevent to the analogy). One is not always as well-stocked, but the proprietor is friendly and personable, and makes you feel comfortable. The other has everything, but also has signs warning about shoplifting in every aisle, and big burly mean- looking security guards giving you the eye...and when you have a question, you have to take a number and hope you catch the proprietor in a good mood. True, you may shop at the latter one, but which one makes you feel more like a valued customer? Charles' approach to his customers is to assume that we're all pirates....maybe that doesn't bother you, but I find it insulting. I'm not saying he shouldn't protect his a**, but his methods could use a touch more diplomacy. > >And that's my opinion. And that's mine. DK ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 192 Thu Jun 17, 1993 J.HICKEY6 at 10:47 EDT Daniel, that's part of the climate on the "middle right" coast of the US of A. (I used to live there) Aside from that, you've got a great program, Charles, and I'm looking forward to v2.0. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 193 Thu Jun 17, 1993 BRIAN.H [ST~SysOp] at 15:51 EDT Ken Van >... You'd be a fool to put an upgrade in the GEnie library. I don't think anyone else does it. Are you calling the Codeheads, Bob Luneski, and numerous other developers fools [grin]? Their "free" upgrades are here. Major ones are sent in. >I, for one, am getting tired of downloading long messages with a lot of >personal griping. I wish folks would send that stuff in GEmail. Perhaps, the point is made and thus EMail is now in order? ~~~~Brian ... Written on Thursday 17 June 1993 at 03:45 p.m. ADT ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 194 Thu Jun 17, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 17:05 EDT Charles - Thanks for the quick response on the Toad BBS and for providing these extra utilities free of charge. Now a question... would you suggest that the STFax TSR driver become a permanent part of my 'auto' folder, or is it something that should be activated only when needed? I'm not clear about what all it does, other than interact with the drivers. Gordon PS to All: It should be stressed that these are additional utilities and drivers that were not included with the original release. This isn't an "update", it's a bonus! ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 195 Thu Jun 17, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 21:07 EDT To: All, I would ask everyone to please post messages related to "how we do business" to the appropriate topic in the ST Roundtable. I appreciate the support that many users have voiced in their messages and I also believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, as the purpose of this product is to provide technical support and information about the STraight FAX!, it is unfair to users who spend their hard earned money on GEnie to have to read messages that are not of a technical nature. Anyone is welcome to send private GEMail to C.S.SMETON or TOAD-SERV. about this and any other matter. To: ALL, GEnie is currently experiencing problems with the Mail system. I myself have several messages waiting that I can not get to at this time. I apologize to users who have sent us GEMail and are awaiting a reply. We will try to respond as soon as the GEMail system has been restored. To: ALL, Toad Computers will be at the Fiesta Atari this weekend in San Antonio Texas. STraight FAX! users are welcome to bring their master disks to upgrade to version 1.07 if they have not already done so. In addition, registered users can bring an extra blank disk and the new drivers will be copied on to this disk. The upgrade price from STraight FAX! prior to version 1.07 is $2.00. The new printer drivers are a free upgrade. Please bring a blank disk that is pre- formatted, to make things easier for Dave & Jennifer who will be at the show. Also, make sure that you have your registration number with you when you upgrade. Charles @ NewStar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 196 Fri Jun 18, 1993 ALGORHYTHM [DanielKeller] at 10:28 EDT I took my gripe to Email a month ago....got no satisfaction, and left it there. When an issue concerns a large number of users (as this one does), it should be placed in a public forum. Yes, I also brought up my personal situation, but only as a further illustration of my point regarding treatment of the customer. Very little of what I've said has been personal griping. If you dislike my point of view, a simple keypress will take you to the next post. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 197 Fri Jun 18, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 18:13 EDT To ALL, The GEnie Mail system is still unavailable as of today (6/18 at 6:05PM). I have a number of messages waiting in my mail box, but due to the problems that GEnie is experiencing, I can not read this mail or answer past mails. Yesterday, after logging on just after 6:00PM, I was unable to even logon to GEnie from the local node. I assume that the changes that are being made to GEnie require that it be unavailable for some time periods, which have been frequent this past week. Ironically, GEnie has been unavailable in this area, but in some other areas it may not have been down and I am located about 20 miles from the GEnie headquarters ;-) Charles @ NewSTar To: Gordon, The FAX Manager TSR will not interfere with other programs. It uses about 7K bytes of RAM and installs a cookie in the Cookie Jar. ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 198 Fri Jun 18, 1993 J.GNIEWKOWSK [GE-Lamp ST] at 18:28 EDT Charles, I have to second Gordons post. I'm not at all sure what the TSR program does. The DRIVPATH program was used to change the embedded 'print' path of the driver. Is this what the TSR & CPX do? If so, Gordon is correct is saying this program should be activated only when a change in path is needed. Is this about it? Signed, Confused in Virginia P.S. Upon a second (or was it third?) reading of the Read Me file, it appears the TSR remembers the path the driver prints to. I suppose this is enables you to make tmeporary changes to the output path without changing the driver (ala DRIVEPTH) ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 199 Fri Jun 18, 1993 O-ZONE [Flakes] at 19:59 EDT Charles, Thank you for the information about the drive path. It was probably in the manual and I overlooked it. I have now reset my drive path to my preference with the greatest of ease. I echo the appreciation for you continuing support of your great product. A calm and contented, (but at present overheated; "It's over 90 degrees in this attic,") Flakes ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 200 Sat Jun 19, 1993 C.S.SMETON [STraight FAX] at 02:35 EDT John, The DRIVPATH program/accessory was used to change the output path that was configured (i.e. written into) the various driver files. To configure this default path, you would have to locate the specific driver and configure that driver with your path of choice. The FAX Manager CPX has the functionality of the DRIVPATH program/ accessory. Select which driver you want to update using the popup menu above the "Configure Driver" button. Then select the "Configure Driver" button. The File Selector will appear with the name of the driver in the "Selection:" field. Select the driver file to update. The File Selector will appear again, this time it will display the current default output path that is configured into the driver. Change the path/filename and select "OK" to update the driver. The configuration of the default output path into each driver is basically the same as it was with DRIVPATH. The CPX has the advantage of not taking up memory until its in use and that it is always available from GEM programs. The FAX Manager CPX also adds a new functionality that greatly simplifies the selection of the output path that ALL of the drivers will use when generating FAX files. The Current Output Path is displayed in the FAX Manager CPX Window. The FAX Manager TSR program must be installed in the AUTO folder for this functionality to be available. After bootup, the Current Output Path is a null string. The FAX Manager TSR maintains a buffer in its resident area that holds the Current Output Path. If the FAX Manager TSR is not installed, the printer drivers will operate as they have in the past. With the FAX Manager TSR installed, the drivers look for the Current Output Path. If the Current Output Path is not set, the drivers will again operate as they have in the past. If the Current Output Path has been set, the drivers will use this path INSTEAD of the default output path configured into the drivers. To set the Current Output Path, Click on the box that the path is displayed in within the FAX Manager CPX window. The file selector will appear and allow a new Current Output Path to be set. When the Current Output Path is a null string, the File Selector will initially set the "Directory:" field to "C:\*.J??" and the "Selection:" field to "FAXPAGE.J01". Using the Current Output Path has several advantages over using the Default Output Path configured into each driver. a) All drivers use the Current Output Path, you only need to set this in one place not in each driver file. b) There is no need to locate the driver file. c) Its alot faster as there is no file access performed. d) There are some programs that allocate all the available RAM and will not allow the DRIVPATH or FAX Manager from configuring the Default Output Path (as there is no memory available for a buffer). The communication between the FAX Manager TSR, FAX Manager CPX and each of the printer drivers is done using the Cookie Jar. The FAX Manager TSR installs a cookie called "STFX" (which can be verified with the "Show Cookies" CPX). Lets say that you want to generate some FAX files from Pagestream or Calamus (or Calligrapher or Word Flair II or Atari Works or That's Write 2, etc.). Run the application, load/create your document, use the application's load printer driver feature to select the STraight FAX! driver. For Pagestream and Calamus this is done within the program. For GDOS based applications, you use the appropriate Font GDOS CPX or Speedo GDOS Desk Accessory to choose the STraight FAX! driver. Now, prior to printing, select the FAX Manager CPX. Set the Current Output Path as described above. You can close the Control Panel window or leave it on screen somewhere. Now, select the applications print command and print the desired pages. The generated FAX files will start with the filename configured into the Current Output Path and will be located in the specified directory. If additional documents are to be generated as FAX files, change the Current Output Path and repeat the above process. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note: there are some features that are present in the FAX Manager TSR and the printer drivers will be taken advantage of in STraight FAX! 2.0. As each FAX file is created, its path/filename is automatically added to a list in the memory buffer managed by the FAX Manager TSR. This list can contain the names of upto 33 generated FAX files. Now, in STraight FAX 2.0, the next time STraight FAX! (STFAX.PRG) is run after FAX files have been generated, the names of these generated FAX files are automatically added to the File List in STraight FAX! This eliminates the need to manually add the names of each of the generated FAX files. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: To DTP/Wordprocessing Developers (hint Nathan!) As FAX programs become more popular, it would be nice if the program would allow more than one printer driver to be configured into the application. As an example, if Calamus allowed 2 or more printer drivers to be configured, the user would be able to switch from their normal printer driver to a FAX driver, using a popup menu or a selector list that displays the name of the driver (i.e. not the filename of the driver). The application would also save the specific preferences of each of the configured drivers. This is basically the functionality that the Printer Drivers utility in Speedo GDOS provides (but as an external utility, not built in to the application). Having this capability would make it alot easier to switch between a real printer driver and a FAX driver, than the current method that requires a driver file name to be picked with a file selector and then reconfiguring the driver preferences (such as page size, resolution). Charles @ NewSTar ------------ Category 4, Topic 24 Message 201 Sat Jun 19, 1993 GRMEYER [Gordon/Sysop] at 10:12 EDT Charles - Thanks for the extended description of the reason(s) to use the TSR. I wasn't able to glean all that from the readme file. Gordon ------------