Archive-name: acorn/faq/part2
Frequency: bi-weekly


2.8) Can I connect a SCART monitor to my Acorn machine?

   If you have an older Acorn machine with a nine pin video socket, then
yes and here is the wiring diagram :-



    .------------------------.    Arc 9-pin plug
    \    1   2   3   4   5   /
     \                      /
      \    6   7   8   9   / Case
       '------------------'
        _____________________
       |19                  1|    SCART 21-pin plug
       | | | | | | | | | | | |
      /                      |
     / |  | | | | | | | | |  |
    /___20_________________2_| 21 (metal casing)
   A SCART connector is also known as a Euroconnector or a Peri-Television
connector. 

                Arc             SCART

Case            | ------------- 21              Case
Red             1 ------------- 15              Red
Green           2 ------------- 11              Green
Blue            3 ------------- 7               Blue
CSYNC           4 ------------- 20              Composite video input
Ground (0V)     6 -+---------+- 13              Red ground
Ground (0V)     7 -+         +- 9               Green ground
Ground (0V)     8 -+         +- 5               Blue ground
Ground (0V)     9 -+         +- 13              CVBS video ground

Ideally each ground wire should be linked to a separate Arc pin. Also,
depending on your SCART monitor, pin 16 may need a +5V input to it.
Unfortunately the Arc 9 pin socket does not provide a +5V output so this
will have to be sourced from somewhere else. 

   If you have a newer Acorn machine, with the 15 pin high density video
socket then you need this kind of wiring :-


       .--------------------.   15-pin VGA style plug
       \    1  2  3  4  5   /
        \ 6  7  8  9  10   /
         \ 11 12 13 14 15 /
          '--------------'

Connections:

Arc                               SCART

1 red ---------------------------- 15
2 green--------------------------- 11
3 blue---------------------------- 7
4 ID[2] nc
5 0V (test)
6 red rtn------------------------- 13
7 green rtn----------------------- 9
8 blue rtn------------------------ 5
                  75 ohms
9 +5V-------------/\/\/\/--------- 16
10 0V----------------------------- 17,18
12 ID[1]-------------------------- 8
11 ID[0] <--13 |
13 HSync -->11 |
                    120 ohms
14 CSync------------/\/\/\/------- 20
15 ID[3] nc
   Notice the two resistors. Also notice that the HSync output (pin 13) of
the 15-way plug has to be connected to the ID[0] input (pin 11) of the same
plug. (Be aware I have no direct confirmation that this wiring works .) 

   As is usual care must be taken when doing this procedure. Older Acorn
machine did not have their VIDC chips fully buffered and
unplugging/plugging cables from the video socket while the machine is
turned on can cause damage to the video circuitry. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.9) How do I make a Null modem cable?

   For starters you will need soldering skills and the neccesary
components. Namely cable, connectors (9 pin female D-type), a soldering
iron, solder and the will to use them. All of these items, bar the will,
can be found down at the local electronic components store. Assuming you
have them all then you will need to decide what kind of machines you are
hooking together. 

   There are three cases and I need to define a few terms. 

 * Archimedes is defined to be A300 series, A400 series (including the /I
   machines), R140, A540, A3000 (but not the A30x0 machines) and R260
   machines. 
 * RiscPC is defined to be both the RiscPC series but also the A5000,
   A4000, A30x0 & A4 machines. All of these machines have a 'PC Style'
   serial port that conforms closely to RS232 specifications. 
This means that if you are connecting your Acorn machine to a non Acorn
machine then generally treating the foreign machine as a RiscPC, in terms
of serial handling, will work. There are exceptions, Macintoshes in
particular have had non-standard serial ports and may require further
research before you can create a cable for them. 

   The cases are :- 

 * Archimedes to Archimedes 


 Arc (9 pin)                      Arc (9 pin)
 -----------                      -----------

 +---1---DCD                        DCD----1---+
 |                                             |
 |   2---RxD------------------------TxD----3   |
 |                                             |
 |   3---TxD------------------------RxD----2   |
 |                                             |
 +---4---DTR------------------------DTR----4---+
 |                                             |
 |   5---0v-------------------------0v-----5   |
 |                                             |
 |   6---DSR------------------------RTS----7   |
 |                                             |
 |   7---RTS------------------------DSR----6   |
 |                                             |
 +---8---CTS                        CTS----8---+

     9---RI-------------------------RI-----9
     
 * Archimedes to RiscPC 


 Arc (9 pin)                      RiscPC (9 pin)
 -----------                      --------------

 +---1---DCD
 |
 |   2---RxD------------------------TxD----3
 |
 |   3---TxD------------------------RxD----2
 |
 +---4---DTR------------------------DTR----4
 |
 |   5---0v-------------------------0v-----5
 |
 |   6---DSR------------------------RTS----7
 |
 |   7---RTS------------------------CTS----8
 |
 +---8---CTS

     9---RI-------------------------DCD----1
     
 * RiscPC to RiscPC 


  RiscPC (9 pin)                   RiscPC (9 pin)
  --------------                   --------------

     1---DCD------------------------DCD----1
 
     2---RxD------------------------TxD----3
 
     3---TxD------------------------RxD----2
 
     4---DTR------------------------DTR----4
 
     5---0v-------------------------0v-----5
 
     8---CTS------------------------RTS----7
 
     7---RTS------------------------CTS----8
     
   Note that most PC compatible machines have 25 pin D type male ports for
their second COM port. You have two options in this case - either re-wire
the cable for the 25 pin port or you can buy a 9 to 25 pin convertor plug.
Either solution works well. Here are the relevant pins for the 25 pin port
:- 

  Pin No.  Function
  -------  --------
     8       DCD
     3       RX
     2       TX
     20      DTR
     7     GND (0v)
     4       RTS
     5       CTS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 3: Configuration.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.1) What is ADFSBuffers and what is the best setting for it?

   ADFSBuffers are Read Ahead and Write Behind buffers for ADFS on your
Archimedes. These are designed to improve the speed of filing operations by
doing work at optimum times. There are some side effects of using them
though. When active under RISC OS v2.00 and v2.01 discs must be dismounted
before being removed from the floppy drive. Failure to do so results in the
dreaded 'FileCore in use.' error. However if you are prepared to sacrifice
the speed improvement they give configuring the buffers to 0 does remove
this problem. (Or so I am informed.) 

   Under RISC OS v3.00, as supplied with the early A5000 machines, these
buffers generate a different problem and must always be configured off.
Failure to do so results in spurious errors when using the Hard Drive on an
early A5000. Symptoms include reformatting of crucial sectors of the disc,
disc address errors and general failure to save files to the drive. So when
using an A5000 with RISC OS 3.00 remember to configure them off! 

   With RISC OS v3.10 all of the old problems have been cured with a new
one introduced. Namely that if you have only a few ADFSBuffers configured
and are accessing the floppy drive then your machine can occasionally lock
up completely for you. It appears that any value of ADFSBuffers above 8
causes that problem to be largely alleviated (read it only occurs rarely at
these settings). So under RISC OS 3.10 it is recommended that you set your
ADFSBuffers to 8+. There is a patch module available, called ADFSUtils,
that does fix this problem - contact your local dealer for a copy of it. 

   RISC OS 3.5 seems to have all of these problems cured and no new bugs
introduced. Under 3.5 the number of ADFSBuffers can be left at the OS's
discretion and generally the OS chooses a number based on the amount of
memory present in your RiscPC. 

   As for the optimum settings for ADFSBuffers, as far as I am aware no one
has done any speed tests to see what is the best setting. Presumably though
Acorn will have arranged for the system to start up (Well except for
RO3.00...) in the optimum state for most uses. I would be interested in
anyone who has done speed tests sending me the results of their
investigations.... 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.2) How do I enable solid drags in RISC OS 3?

   Solid drags are controlled by bit 1 in byte 28 of the CMOS RAM. Setting
this bit enables solid drags on all solid drag 'aware' applications.
However setting this bit using a *FX command from the command line is a
foolish way to do it, as this will unset/set the other 7 bits in that byte
which have meaning to FileSwitch and the Wimp. Accordingly the recommended
way to set this bit is using a program like this BASIC one enclosed below
:- 

   REM Toggle state of DragASprite bit in CMOS

   REM Read byte
   SYS "OS_Byte",161,&1C TO ,,byte%
   REM EOR byte with mask for bit 1
   byte% = byte% EOR %10
   REM Write byte back again
   SYS "OS_Byte",162,&1C,byte%
   END

Which safely sets bit 1 while preserving the settings of the other bits. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 4: Hardware problems.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.1) What do the hard drive error numbers mean?

   The error numbers returned indicate the type of error encountered.
Exactly why slightly more meaningful messages are not returned I am unsure.
The error codes meanings are as follows :- 

   ST506 error codes
   
   &01  ABT     Command abort has been accepted
   &02  IVC     Invalid command
   &03  PER     Command parameter error
   &04  NIN     Head positioning, disc access, or drive check before SPC has
                been issued 
   &05  RTS     TST command invalid after SPC
   &06  NUS     USELD for a selected drive has not been returned
   &07  WFL     Write fault has been detected on the ST506 interface
   &08  NRY     Ready signal has been negated
   &09  NSC     Seek completed (SCP) wasn't returned before a timeout
   &0A  ISE     SEK, or disc access command issued during seek
   &0B  INC     Next cylinder address greater than number of cylinders
   &0C  ISR     Invalid step rate: highest-speed seek specified in normal
                seek mode
   &0D  SKE     SEK or disc access command issued to drive with seek error
   &0E  OVR     Data overrun (memory slower than drive)
   &0F  IPH     Head address greater then number of heads
   &10  DEE     Error Correction Code (ECC) detected an error
   &11  DCE     CRC error in data area
   &12  ECR     ECC corrected an error
   &13  DFE     Fatal ECC error in data area
   &14  NHT     In CMPD command data mismatched from host and disc
   &15  ICE     CRC error in ID field (not generated for ST506)
   &16  TOV     ID not found within timeout
   &17  NIA     ID area started with an improper address mask
   &18  NDA     Missing address mark
   &19  NWR     Drive write protected
   
   IDE errors
   
   - As ST506, except:
   
   &02  IVC     Command aborted by controller
   &07  WFL     Write fault
   &08  NRY     Drive not ready
   &09  NSC     Track 0 not found
   &13  DFE     Uncorrected data error
   &16  TOV     Sector ID field not found
   &17  NIA     Bad block mark detected
   &18  NDA     No data address mark
   &20          No DRQ when expected
   &21          Drive busy when commanded
   &22          Drive busy on command completion
   &23          Controller did not respond within timeout
   &24          Unknown code in error register

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.2) What can I do with a 'Broken Directory' or a corrupt Free Space Map?

   There are various programs out there now which fix this problem. The PD
ones all are 'caveat emptor' programs but are worth trying if you vitally
need to recover some files, or just don't have the floppy disc/streamer
space to back your drive up. 

   In the FAQ maintainer's experience the utility 'fsck' (a shareware
utility available at good FTP sites near you) works reliably and well. The
distribution version does not work with the new FileCore but by registering
you can obtain a version that does repair the newer format discs. 

   Another shareware tool is DiscEdit - strictly speaking it is a disc
sector editor but it also contains routines for directory repair. Even so
it is recommended that if you have critical data on your drive you should
use one of these tools to recover the data and then reformat the drive. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.3) What does the power on self-test check?

   The power on self test was introduced with RISC OS 3.0 and later
versions of the OS. On power up your machine checks the hardware for
physical faults before letting you use it, hopefully signalling important
errors to you before further hardware damage can result. 

   The purple screen at power on indicates that the self-test has begun. A
brief ROM, RAM, VIDC and IOC test is performed and then the screen colour
changes to blue and a limited memory test [1] is performed, along with a
second test of the VIDC and IOC. When the screen returns to purple, the
machine is testing for an ARM3 (or better). At the end of this sequence the
screen colour is set to green (for pass) or red (for fail). If the tests
have all passed then the machine starts to boot and the RISC OS 3 welcome
screen is displayed. 

   If any test fails, the screen will remain red and the disc drive light
will blink a fault code. A short flash is used to indicate a binary '0' and
a long flash indicates a binary '1'. The bits are grouped into eight
nybbles (blocks of four bits) with the most significant bit first. 

   The lowest seven bits are a status word. The meaning of each bit is
given below in hex :-


00000001   Self-test due to power on
00000002   Self-test due to interface hardware
00000004   Self-test due to test link
00000008   Long memory test performed
00000010   ARM ID detected (ARM 3 fitted for non-RiscPC hardware)
00000020   Long memory test disabled
00000040   PC-style IO world detected
00000080   VRAM detected

   Bits 8-31 indicate the fault code and are described below. Not all the
bits are used. If the code is marked as reserved on the RiscPC this means
that error number is currently either unassigned or it's meaning on older
hardware is no longer sensible for the newer machines (and thus it's
meaning may be reassigned on the newer versions of the OS.)


00000100   CMOS RAM checksum error
00000200   ROM failed checksum test
00000400   MEMC CAM mapping failed (A reserved code on the RiscPC)
00000800   MEMC protection failed (A reserved code on the RiscPC)
00001000   (A reserved code on the RiscPC)
00002000   (A reserved code on the RiscPC)
00004000   VIDC Virq (video interrupt) timing failed
00008000   VIDC Sirq (sound interrupt) timing failed
00010000   CMOS unreadable
00020000   RAM control line failure
00040000   Long RAM test failure
00080000   (A reserved code on the RiscPC)
   Some third party VIDC enhancers on older hardware trigger the self test
to fail. If you are getting a failed self test with a VIDC enhancer, yet
the machine is working fine, enter and run this BASIC program and then save
your CMOS settings :- 

   REM Toggle state of power on self test bit in CMOS

   REM Read byte
   SYS "OS_Byte",161,&BC TO ,,byte%
   REM EOR byte with mask for bit 1
   byte% = byte% EOR %10000000
   REM Write byte back again
   SYS "OS_Byte",162,&BC,byte%
   END


This modifies the self test to cope with the VIDC enhancer. 

   [1] By limited it meant that it verifies the VRAM, if present, and
checks the first 4 Mb of RAM in the machine. (Or so I am told.) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.4) My Real Time Clock has paused, how do I restart it?

   This is a problem caused most often by 'rogue' software chatting to the
IIC bus and incorrectly setting the pause bit on the RTC control register.
Symptoms of this happening are that the time is always the same every time
you reboot and the software clock tends to run slightly slow (losing about
a minute every hour or so.). If you are experiencing these symptoms this
program should restart your RTC clock :- 

REM poke RTC control register
REM  Bit   0         1
REM   7   Count  ResetDivider
REM   6   Count  HoldLastCount
REM write 0 for normal operation, write &80 or &40 freezes RTC
DIM cmosdata% 16
!cmosdata%=&00000000
REM write 0 twice to RTC, first 0 is address- control reg
REM second is control reg value 0 is default i.e. clock on
SYS &240, &A0, cmosdata%,2
END

You will need to reset the time after running this program but hopefully
your RTC will keep the correct time from here on in. 

   If the same symptoms persist after trying this program contact your
local Acorn dealer as something more serious has gone wrong. Note that to
check that the symptoms are persisting you must reboot your machine after
running this program and having set the time. This is due to the way RISC
OS maintains a 'soft' copy of the real time clock and until you reboot it
will not be obvious whether your RTC has indeed started working again. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.5) Why doesn't *Speaker work on my machine?

   The *Speaker command does not work on new models of Acorn machines. The
A300, A400, A3000, A540, A5000 and A4 all had software control of the
built-in speaker. With newer machines this feature has been removed in
favour of a automatic hardware cut off of the speaker when a jack is
inserted into the sound socket on the machine. 

   However to ensure compatibility with old software the command *Speaker
has been left in the OS, it merely doesn't do anything. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 5: Software Issues.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.1) Why does DOSFS corrupt my files occasionally?

   Under RISC OS 3 DOS, and indeed with any other ImageFS filing system,
discs are treated as one large file and ADFS applies write-behind caching
to nearly everything it does. (See the question on ADFSBuffers for more
details about this.) This means while working on a DOS disc the entire disc
is treated as one large open file. 

   However as long as a file is held open the cache is not flushed out
fully till the machine is explicitly told to do so. This means when working
with non-ADFS format discs always dismount them before removing them from
the drive. With ADFS format discs this is not so critical, as files aren't
held open during most operations on them, but it is good to get into the
habit of dismounting floppy discs. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.2) Where can I obtain the latest version of module X?

   All patch modules, official Acorn OS extensions and the like can be
sourced from the Acorn ftp sites. Ideally your dealer will also have copies
of them too and you should be able to obtain them from them. (If they don't
you may like to pass on the ones from the ftp site, if you request them, so
that they are up to-date.) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.3) What are the current File-type allocation ranges?

   Acorn have reallocated the File-type ranges for applications. The new
ranges are :- 

  Non-user area

    &E00-&FFF   Acorn
    &B00-&DFF   Commercial software
    &A00-&AFF   Acornsoft, and other commercial software
    &400-&9FF   Commercial Software

  User area

    &100-&3FF   Non-commercial distributed software (ie PD)
    &000-&0FF   User's personal usage (ie non-distributed)

75% of the user area is for PD/Shareware, with allocations co-ordinated by
Acorn. If your software is going to be distributed, you should have an
allocated filetype to avoid clashes. 

   Acorn cannot publish it's master list of filetypes because, at any given
time, it will contain allocations made for products which have not yet been
announced. Therefore, Acorn would be in breach of confidence by doing so -
and the editing overhead for producing a sanitised list is too great. 

   However, all is not lost. Denis Howe maintains an unofficial list of
filetype allocations. This can be found at
http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/acorn/doc/filetypes and includes details about
whether the allocation is an official one, a de facto one and what the file
contains. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.4) Is there a Modula 2 compiler for the Arc?

   Currently, no. Acorn did have, in the early days of the experimental ARM
work, an in house compiler. However this compiler was sufficiently unstable
and buggy to be un-releasable as commercial product and was only used
because in house support was available immediately to the users of the
compiler. When Olivetti invested in Acorn this technology went to them so
that Acorn no longer have even an in house Modula 2 compiler. 

   However some companies have stated intentions to produce Modula 2
compilers for the Arc. Whether these intentions become reality has yet to
be seen. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.5) What Public Domain Languages are available for Acorn machines?

   The answer to this is a list that is maintained by Gavin Wraith
(G.Wraith@sussex.ac.uk) . Accordingly updates, corrections and other
comments should all be sent to him. 

******** PD Languages for Risc OS ***********

Last update 20/07/96

Updates: GCC 2.7.2
New: Algol 68S  

On the usenet group comp.compilers there is regularly posted an
archive of PD compilers and interpreters (about 373K's worth of 
information) by D.Sharnoff and A.Robenalt. On the WWW try

      http://www.idiom.com/free-compilers/

Here is an incomplete list of PD programming languages available
for Risc OS machines. If you think I have omitted a significant 
item, I will be grateful to hear about it.

Most items may be obtained by anonymous ftp from

    micros.hensa.ac.uk:micros/arch/riscos/<dirname>

where <dirname> is as specified below, or from the mirrors of hensa
at stuttgart, demon or imperial college.

Imperative languages
--------------------                                   

Algol 68S - obtainable from ftp://ftp.cs.man.ac.uk/pub/chl/A68S

Charm - A Pascal like compiled language. Not portable.
        Available from David Pilling.

PC 4.09   - Norcroft DDE Pascal Compiler. <dirname> = a/a122. 

Icon 8.0  - Griswold, 1970's.  A descendant of SNOBOL4 with Pascal-like
        syntax. Icon is a general-purpose language with special features 
        for string scanning. 
        "The Icon Programming Language", Ralph & Marge Griswold,
        2nd ed P-H 1990. 
        ftp:cs.arizona.edu list: icon-group@arizona.edu

         <dirname> = a/a106

GRS     <dirname> = b/b062

Ada     <dirname> = c/c052. Bytecode interpreter.

GNAT 3.01  <dirname> = e/e095. GNU Ada Compiler.

GCC 2.7.2   <dirname> = b/b013. GNU C, C++, Objective C. Portable. 
           Based on GCC 2.7.2. Release 1.0.6.

 
Armbob 2.1  <dirname> = b/b178. Not portable. C-like, object oriented
         language. Supports wimp programming and graphics output in
         Draw files. Implicit typing.
         Compiles to intermediate code for a virtual stack machine
         which is then run.

Perl  5.001   <dirname> = a/a049.  Kevin Quinn writes: 
         Combines the best features of Awk, Grep, Sed and C to make a 
         great language for text processing.  Martin Portman has 
         written a newsreader for the Arc with it 
         (martin@tumble.demon.co.uk).

Tcl 7.4     <dirname> = e/e057
         Tool Command Language by John Ousterhout, very popular on the
         Mac.  A small text-oriented embedded language similar to LISP with
         add-on extensions that allow it to also function more as a
         shell.  Port by C.T.Stretch 
         (ct.stretch@ulst.ac.uk).

Pot 1.33    <dirname> = d/d132  Portable Oberon Translator

RLab 1.25    <dirname> = e/e022   RLaB Version 1.25, 
         An interactive, interpreted scientific programming environment,
         similar to MATLAB, but based on C rather than Fortran, and more
         up to date in some respects. Rlab is copyrighted with the GNU
         General Public License.  If you have WWW access you can read 
         about it in http://www.eskimo.com/~ians/rlab.html.
            
SMALLTALKS
----------

LITTLEST 0.00    <dirname> = a/a102    David G.Jones writes: 
            Little Smalltalk By Tim Budd, latest version 3.14. 
            This follows a mix of Smalltalk-80 and its predecessor -76. 
            Designed more for the casual/child user, reflecting 
            the original idea of the project. Contains a reduced 
            and more straightforward view. Slow but does not require 
            too much memory.

GNUST 1.1.1       <dirname> = c/c045    GNU Smalltalk 1.1.1.
             David G.Jones writes: 
             This is an attempt to implement the core of the 
             Smalltalk-80 definition. Quite demanding in terms 
             of memory and CPU speed. Quite a few bugs. Lacks
             the charm of ST-80 without the window environment.

FORTH variations
----------------

WimpForth  1.0  <dirname> = e/e096

Forthmacs  3.1  <dirname> = c/c073

AForth 0.70     <dirname> = a/a293

TileForth  2.1  <dirname> = a/a111
            Written in C for portability.

APL
---

J 6.2          <dirname> = a/a165


Declarative Languages
---------------------

SB-Prolog 3.1  <dirname> = a/a067

BIBPROLOG 3.30  <dirname> = d/d005

HU-Prolog 1.62  <dirname> = e/e062  Humboldt University Prolog

Hope  4.02a     <dirname> = a/a139  Eager evaluation, but lists can have
                               lazy tails.

SML 4.0.01      <dirname> = a/a216  Eager evaluation. No modules.

                            
Gofer  2.30a   <dirname> = a/a262  Lazy evaluation. Type classes.
                              The latest version has type-constructor
                              classes, and is the only language to
                              support this concept. (I can supply a 
                              version that runs in a window).

Hugs 1.00      <dirname> = d/d041  Haskell Users Gofer System

 
Lisp Family
-----------

Xlisp 1.60           <dirname> = a/a103

XScheme          <dirname> = a/a138

Siod  2.90           <dirname> = a/a275

Xlisp+           <dirname> = b/b076

GNU Scheme       <dirname> = b/b105
                 symbolic maths, graphics

Foolslisp  1.3      <dirname> = c/c162

CLisp 01.01      <dirname> = c/c189   Common Lisp

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.6) Why does the RO3.5 desktop sometimes revert to the system font?

   This is due to a bug in the RISC OS 3.5 Wimp module. Applications that
have outline fonts in their icons and a validation string of R5 or R6
(slabbed icon) will trigger this bug and cause the desktop to revert to the
system font. There are two solutions to this problem depending on your
level of computer literacy. 

   The easiest solution, for people who are very shy of template editors,
is to complain to the author(s) of the application about this problem and
get them to fix it. If you are not shy of template editors you could also
go in and edit the applications templates so that none of the slabbed icons
have outline fonts in them. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.7) Why does ChangeFSI display a blank white window, not an image?

   Version 1.13S of ChangeFSI now has the RISC OS 3.6 JPEG support built
into it. However the code has been designed to fail ' gracefully ' if the
support code is not available in the OS. For instance when you run the
software on versions of the OS older than RISC OS 3.6. In this case a blank
white window is displayed. 

   To regain normal use of ChangeFSI go to the main menu and select Sprite
Output instead of JPEG output. Next time you load a picture, or re-process
the current one, an image will be displayed. The JPEG Output option is not
greyed out because even though no image is displayed you can still save the
processed file as a JPEG. 

   For those of you with RISC OS 3.5 the module can be obtained from
Acorn's FTP sites at :-

ftp://ftp.acorn.co.uk/pub/riscos/releases/spriteextend.arc 

Or if you are in New Zealand :-

ftp://ftp.acorn.co.nz/pub/riscos/releases/spriteextend.arc 

This can be softloaded in your Boot.PreDesk sequence to use it. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.8) What causes the 'nager:Sprites22' error?

   This is both a tricky and simple question to answer. The cause of the
error is unknown, but something is erroring. However rather than displaying
the error message RISC OS has a subtle bug in it that causes it to display
the above error message instead. The sequence goes like this :- 

 * An error occurs. 
 * The wimp realises it needs to load the hi-res toolsprites & loads them. 
 * The wimp then displays the error message. 

   Unfortunately the process of loading the his-res toolsprites over-writes
the buffer containing the original error block. (IE the block of memory
with the error number and error message in it.) What it overwrites it with
is the string 'WindowManager:Sprites22', which is a path reference to where
the hi-res toolsprites are to be found. 

   This error has been corrected in RISC OS 3.60 and, presumably, future
versions of the OS. (Thanks go to Alan Glover for this information.) 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 6: Viruses.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.1) How can I protect against viruses?

   Pineapple Software have produced a program called !Killer, which is the
definitive means of checking for or killing viruses. See the next question. 

   Other than !Killer there are one or two commercial virus killers.
SmartKill is one of these and information about it can be obtained from
MGResearch. See section 6.2 for a listing of various virus killers and
where to obtain them. 

   There are also a few PD programs around, but these tend to detect only a
small subset of the viruses in circulation. !VKiller used to be OK, but it
is no longer maintained, is now seriously out of date and fails to work
under RISC OS 3. Out of the PD virus utilities the current best is Tor
Houghton's Scanner. This detects most known viruses and removes quite a few
as well and serves as a good secondary defence if Killer is unavailable to
you. Scanner should be available on various FTP/Email servers. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.2) Where can I obtain a virus killer?

   Various virus killers are out there. Here is a, probably incomplete,
list of those available. 

 * Killer 

      Killer is distributed by Pineapple Software. Who can be reached at :- 

     Suite 13/14,
     South Park Business Centre,
     310 Green Lane,
     Ilford,
     Essex IG1 1TX,
     England.
     Tel. +44 (181) 599 1476  Fax +44 (181) 598 2343
     via email :-
     sales@pinesoft.demon.co.uk
     support@pinesoft.demon.co.uk
     virus@pinesoft.demon.co.uk
   
      Or if you need a German version of the program you can contact
   Uffenkamp Computer Systeme at :- 

      Gartenstr. 3,
      D-32130 Enger.
      Tel. +49 (5224) 69644 Fax +49 (5224) 7812
      via email :-
      ucsorder@ucs.de
      usupport@ucs.de
   
      Early versions (up to 1.26) are PD, but should not be used now as
   they are ineffective against the new crop of viruses that have
   subsequently appeared since it's release. 

      It is the FAQ maintainer's opinion that this is the commercial virus
   killer to buy.. 
 * SmartKill 

      This is a commercial product put out by MGResearch. They can be
   reached at :- 

      MGResearch, 46 Corringway, Church Crookham, Fleet, Hants, GU13 OAW,
         England.
      via email :-
      42327@sixth.demon.co.uk (Mike Goodwin)
   
      As far as I am aware no PD version of this has been released. 
 * VZap 

      This is a shareware product released by Paul Vigay . Copies of it can
   be obtained from either the Arcade BBS, Paul's own BBS Equinox ( UK
   01705 871531 ) or from Paul's www site
   http://rainbow.medberry.com/enigma/shareware.html . 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Section 7: Network Resources.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.1) What archives/FTP sites are available?

   See the regular (fortnightly) posting by Gerben Vos & Peter Naulls. This
posting is also available from an email server at MIT. 

   To request it from this server send an email to
mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu. No subject is needed and the body should contain
:- 

send /pub/usenet/news.answers/acorn/archives

Or, alternatively, you could view it on the web at :-

http://lucy.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~pnaulls/acorn-archives/ 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.2) What Acorn related companies are available on the net via email?

   There are quite a few companies now on the net and reachable via email
with more joining as time passes. Here is the list of companies that have
given permission to be entered here in the FAQ. If the email address is to
a person rather than either an automated system or perhaps a group of
people I have placed the name of the person in brackets after the email
address description. 

   3SL Ltd :- 

   sales@sssl.demon.co.uk       Information about products and prices.

   Acorn Computers (Uk) :- 

   customer.services@acorn.co.uk Enquiries and product information.
   RiscPC.techquery@acorn.co.uk  RiscPC information.

   The Advisory Unit :- 

   info@advunit.demon.co.uk     General enquiries.
   alun@advunit.demon.co.uk     (Alun Hinder)

   Aleph One :- 

   Sales@aleph1.co.uk           Information about products and prices.
   Support@aleph1.co.uk         After-sales support.

   Alternative Publishing Ltd :- 

   sales@altpvb.demon.co.uk     Sales, service and upgrades

   ANT Ltd :- 

   sales@ant.co.uk              Sales and general enquiries.
   support@ant.co.uk            Technical support.

   Archive magazine :- 

   parky@argonet.co.uk          Internet columnist (Dave Pantling)
   paul.NCS@paston.co.uk        Editor (Paul Beverley)

   The ARM Club :- 

   info@armclub.org.uk          Enquiries etc...

   ARMed Forces Software :- 

   sales@afsoft.demon.co.uk     Sales and enquiries.
   support@afsoft.demon.co.uk   Product support.

   Armstrong Walker Ltd :- 

   Andy@armswalk.demon.co.uk    Enquiries etc... (Andy Armstrong)
   Nigel@armswalk.demon.co.uk   Enquiries etc... (Nigel Walker)

   Atomwide :- 

   Sales@atomwide.co.uk         Information about products and prices.
   Support@atomwide.co.uk       After-sales support.

   Beebug Ltd :- 

   sales@beebug.co.uk           Sales.
   info@beebug.co.uk            General enquiries.
   ruser@beebug.co.uk           Email for Risc User.
   technical@beebug.co.uk       Technical enquiries for our products and items
                                purchased from Beebug.

   Carlton Software :- 

   info@carltsw.demon.co.uk     General information.
   sales@carltsw.demon.co.uk    Orders, and sales enquiries.
   tech@carltsw.demon.co.uk     Technical advice, and support for customers.

   Castle Technology :- 

   Sales@castlet.demon.co.uk    Info, Products, Prices, Ordering etc.
   Support@castlet.demon.co.uk  Support issues etc.

   Clares Micro Supplies :- 

   DClare@Clares.demon.co.uk    General enquiries. (Dave Clare)
   GOwen@Clares.demon.co.uk     General enquiries. (Gareth Owen)
   DJackson@Clares.demon.co.uk  Technical enquiries. (David Jackson)
   Sales@Clares.demon.co.uk     Ordering and sales information.

   Colton Software :- 

   info@colton.co.uk            Automated reply, listing services available.
   sales@colton.co.uk           general sales etc.
   support@colton.co.uk         technical support on existing products.

   Computer Concepts :- 

   info@cconcepts.co.uk         Automated reply, giving information.
   sales@cconcepts.co.uk        For credit card orders of products.
   support@cconcepts.co.uk      Technical support for products. 

   Comspec :- 

   acorn_info@comrad.comspec.com Canadian Acorn dealer. Enquiries about
                                Acorn hardware and products welcome
                                including USA enquiries. (Domenic
                                DeFrancesco)

   Cumana :- 

   sales@cumana.co.uk           Sales and product information.
   support@cumana.co.uk         Product support.

   Cumbria :- 

   sales@cumsoft.demon.co.uk    General sales enquiries.

   David Pilling Software :- 

   david@pilling.demon.co.uk    All enquiries to this address.

   Desktop Projects Ltd :- 

   info@desktopp.demon.co.uk    General enquiries
   sales@desktopp.demon.co.uk   Sales information and orders
   support@desktopp.demon.co.uk Customer technical support line

   DoggySoft :- 

   sales@doggysoft.co.uk        Sales information and orders
   support@doggysoft.co.uk      Customer technical support line

   i-cubed Ltd :- 

   advice@i-cubed.co.uk         Pre sales advice / general queries
   support@i-cubed.co.uk        After sales support / technical queries
   sales@i-cubed.co.uk          Pricing / Availability / Dealers etc.

   The Image Factory :- 

   imagfact@ozemail.com.au      Sales and support.

   Iota Software :- 

   support@iota.co.uk           Enquires & support for Iota products. 
   Longman Logotron :- 

   info@logo.com                General product information.
   sales@logo.com               Sales enquiries and orders.
   support@logo.com             Product support enquiries.

   Meu Cymru :- 

   info@meucymru.demon.co.uk    Enquiries etc...

   MGResearch :- 

   42327@sixth.demon.co.uk      Enquiries etc... (Mike Goodwin)

   Micro Laser Designs :- 

   info@microlas.demon.co.uk    General Enquiries
   sales@microlas.demon.co.uk   Sales Enquiries
   users@microlas.demon.co.uk   User Group Enquiries

   Millipede Electronic Graphics :- 

   info@milliped.demon.co.uk    Product information.
   sales@milliped.demon.co.uk   Orders and current prices.
   support@milliped.demon.co.uk Technical support.
   richard@milliped.demon.co.uk If all else fails! (Richard Jozefowski)

   Minerva Software :- 

   minerva@zynet.co.uk          Enquiries etc...

   Mirage Enterprises :- 

   Sales@spark.demon.co.uk      Sales Enquiries
   Support@spark.demon.co.uk    Product Support

   Moray Micro Computing :- 

   sales@m-micro.demon.co.uk    Sales Enquiries.

   Norwich Computer Services :- 

   sales.NCS@paston.co.uk       Sales
   tech.NCS@paston.co.uk        Technical help

   Octopus Systems :- 

   sales@octosys.co.uk          Enquiries etc... (Paul Skirrow)

   Old Mother Software :- 

   main@oldmothr.demon.co.uk    General enquiries
   info@oldmothr.demon.co.uk    Product information
   tech@oldmothr.demon.co.uk    Technical support

   Oregan Software Developments :- 

   sales@oregan.demon.co.uk     General enquiries, product info and credit
                                card orders
   support@oregan.demon.co.uk   Technical queries

   Paradise :- 

   info@paradise1.compulink.co.uk    Product Information
   support@paradise1.compulink.co.uk Support/feedback.

   PEP Associates :- 

   info@pep-assoc.co.uk         Product information.
   support@pep-assoc.co.uk      Product support.

   Pinapple Software :- 

   support@pineaple.demon.co.uk Info about products, support and enquiries.

   Quantum Software :- 

   Info@quantumsoft.co.uk       Info about products, version numbers, etc.
   Support@quantumsoft.co.uk    Technical support for customers.
   Sales@quantumsoft.co.uk      General info about products and prices, etc.

   Resource :- 

   Info@Resourcekt.co.uk        General information etc...
   Sales@Resourcekt.co.uk       Credit card orders.
   Support@Resourcekt.co.uk     Technical support.

   SENLAC Computing :- 

   sykesp@senlac.demon.co.uk    Enquiries etc. (Peter R. Sykes)

   The Serial Port :- 

   altman@cryton.demon.co.uk    Software support.
   bob@cryton.demon.co.uk       Retail enquiries.
   jim@cryton.demon.co.uk       To reach Jim Nagel, author of the Acorn
                                column in Computer Shopper magazine.
   pcats@cryton.demon.co.uk     Hardware support

   Sherston Software :- 

   sales@sherston.co.uk         Sales and Product information.
   support@sherston.co.uk       Technical support/queries etc.

   Spacetech Imaging Technology :- 

   sales@spacetec.demon.co.uk   Sales and Product information.
   support@spacetec.demon.co.uk Technical Support.

   Supreme Software Systems Ltd :- 

   info@supreme.demon.co.uk     All Enquiries.

   TBA Software :- 

   tba@tbalond.demon.co.uk      All enquiries.

   Thinx Solutions :- 

   Thinx@spark.demon.co.uk      Sales Enquiries and Product Support

   Uffenkamp Computer Systeme :- 

   ucsinfo@ucs.de               Product information, events et al.
   usupport@ucs.de              After sales support, technical queries.
   ucsorder@ucs.de              Sales enquiries.

   Uniqueway :- 

   info@uniqway.demon.co.uk     General queries, product related or
                                otherwise.
   support@uniqway.demon.co.uk  Support for products. (Serial
                                number should be quoted where
                                relevant.)
   sales@uniqway.demon.co.uk    For credit card orders.

   Vertical Twist :- 

   sales@equinoxe.demon.co.uk   Enquiries, orders etc.
   techsup@equinoxe.demon.co.uk Technical support.

   Warm Silence Software :- 

   Robin.Watts@prg.ox.ac.uk     Enquiries etc. (Robin Watts)

   Wyddfa Software :- 

   gwilliams@cix.compulink.co.uk Enquiries etc. (Gwyn Williams)

   Zynet Ltd :- 

   zynet@zynet.co.uk            Enquiries etc...

   If you are a company and you would like to included in this list please
send me an email, to the address specified at the bottom of the FAQ,
detailing the email addresses and their general function. I will then
include them into the FAQ. However as a matter of policy I will only
include an address if I receive email from the owner, or a representative
for the owner, of that address. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
