655 lines
32 KiB
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655 lines
32 KiB
Plaintext
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#########################################################################
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S Y N D I C A T E Z M A G A Z I N E
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#########################################################################
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VOLUME 4 NUMBER 1 ISSUE #138
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January 3, 1989
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Syndicate Publishing Co. Publisher/Editor
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Post Office Box 74 Ron Kovacs
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Middlesex, N.J. 08846 Copyright (c)1989 SPC
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#########################################################################
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Conveyance courtesy PayBax BBS, Wilmington, DE. (302) 731-5558 All Bauds
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#########################################################################
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This week.....
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<*> Editors Desk <*> MYDOS Update Released
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<*> Diamond Review <*> ZNET Newswire
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<*> PR:C Modification <*> DATAQUE Update
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<*> ANTIC Software on CIS <*> XF551 Modification
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##############################
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<*> Editors Desk
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##############################
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by Ron Kovacs
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We are glad to be back after a 30 day vacation. Much has happened since
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our last regular edition. We have spun-off an ST and Amiga online weekly
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magazine, tallying the results from the 100+ responses to the Survey, and
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working on details for a fun contest which begins next week.
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IN THE NEWS
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Michigan Atari Magazine has changed thier name to Atari Interface
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Magazine. (AIM) (sounds like toothpaste)
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DATAQUE releases information in late December with details on the current
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delay. See article in this weeks edition.
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Sig Hartman promises better support from Atari in 1989. See the article
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in this weeks edition.
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Happy Computer will be in conference on CompuServe January 4. This should
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be of interest! Especially after the debate with David Small on GEnie.
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Read the latest edition of Atari Explorer Magazine for an in-depth
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interview with Ron Luks and commentary from Darlah Pine. Thanks go to
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Explorer for recognizing ZMAG in the directory column.
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====
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Regardless of what you might have heard, ZMAG will continue to support the
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8 bit Atari. Our focus will once again pertain exclusive to 8 bit. For
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ST news and information, read STZMAG.
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##############################
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<*> MYDOS UPDATE
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##############################
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These are the contents of the latest MYDOS ARChive files in LIB 3. If you
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have only one disk drive or your drives only handle single density, you'll
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need this information to plan how to extract the original files from
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these large ARC files.
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MYDOSU.ARC: RS232 handlers and VTOC repair utility
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Filename Length S SF Size
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============ ======= = ==== =======
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ATR232.AUT 1862 C 18% 1537
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ATR232HD.AUT 1862 C 18% 1537
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ATARI850.AUT 186 - 0% 186
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VTOCFIX.COM 3603 P 4% 3462
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VTOCFIX.DOC 8385 C 50% 4205
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AUTORUN.DOC 981 C 33% 659
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==== ======= =======
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Total 6 16879 11586
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MYDOSM.ARC: DISCOMmed MYDOS disk image and documentation
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Filename Length S SF Size
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============ ======= = ==== =======
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MYDOS.DCM 27257 C 10% 24786
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READ.ME 889 C 32% 609
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MAIN.DOC 54015 C 56% 24116
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TECH.DOC 47307 C 55% 21501
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==== ======= =======
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Total 4 129468 71012
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MYDOSS.ARC: Source code and related utilities for MYDOS
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Filename Length S SF Size
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============ ======= = ==== =======
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MDOS.M65 224 C 12% 199
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MDOS1.M65 11307 C 28% 8189
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MDOS2.M65 16211 C 26% 12083
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MDOS3.M65 18712 C 26% 13905
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MDUP.M65 504 C 12% 447
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MDUP1.M65 4855 C 21% 3840
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MDUP2.M65 20989 C 20% 16883
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MDUP3.M65 12543 C 21% 9929
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BUILD.M65 8005 C 28% 5822
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BUILD.OBJ 1054 C 13% 926
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MDOS.OBJ 4398 C 3% 4290
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MDUP.OBJ 7083 C 5% 6749
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README.DOC 4207 C 50% 2109
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==== ======= =======
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Total 13 110092 85371
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##############################
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<*> DIAMOND from REEVE
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##############################
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by Kenneth J. Leap
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Diamond OS is the new offering from REEVE Software. Alan Reeve's previous
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big hit for the Atari 8-bit was The News Station, a page-design program
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similar to (and more useful than) Springboard Software's Newsroom.
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Diamond OS is a disk operating system designed to look and work like the
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Atari-ST GEM graphic interface.
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It does look like GEM. The drive icons look like little file cabinets
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that are animated so the little drawer pops open when you access a drive.
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There is a garbage can. There is a mouse cursor that can be controlled by
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joystick, an ST mouse, a touch-tablet, a trackball, and even the arrow
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keys on the keyboard. With your cursor you can click and double-click on
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drop-down menus, windows, icons, and dialog boxes.
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Diamond claims to be capable of handling fonts ranging from one to twenty
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-four points in size and with eight different type styles per font.
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Supposedly can load up to six desk accessories at boot-up and address up
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to sixteen megabytes of memory.
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The Diamond OS disk comes with no fonts. No desk accessories are included.
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If you do put a file with the .ACC extender on your disk, it does not
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appear under the Desk drop-down menu where the documentation says it
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might be found. Diamond accesses extra memory with special memory drivers,
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MEMORY.DRV. But you don't get one with it and the built-in default driver
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is only 14K. This means that the copy buffer is so small that it took
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three passes to copy a thirty-seven sector files from one drive to
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another. The manual does mention that if you buy the Diamond program disk,
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you can custom design your own memory drivers.
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Now you know what you don't get, here's what you do get. On the disk are
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the following files; DOS.SYS (DOS 2.0!!!), AUTORUN.SYS (Diamond DUP.SYS),
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DESKTOP.APP (the desktop program itself), DEMWRITE.APP, DEMPAINT.APP,
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KOALA.DRV, MOUSE.DRV, and TOUCHTAB.DRV. MOUSE.DRV is the joystick driver.
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To use another device, simply rename it to MOUSE.DRV. The built-in driver
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is for the ST-mouse. DEMWRITE.APP is a nonfucntional demo of Diamond
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Write, REEVE's new, 80-col word processor. Some of the options shown look
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interesting. In the Edit menu you find; Cut, Copy, Paste, Search, Replace
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and Spelling. Under Mode; Page Layout, Graphics, Spacing, Justification,
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and Ruler are listed. DEMPAINT.APP is a similar demo of Diamond Paint
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which reveals nothing at all about the program. However, a saved picture
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file is sixty-two sectors so we might assume that it works with the
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standard Micro-painter format.
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You are probably wondering why the heck DOS 2.0 is on the disk. Two quotes
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from the (very slender) manual. -Diamond DeskTop is basically a
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replacement for the DUP.SYS file on an Atari 2.0 disk.- -Please note that
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this disk version of Diamond uses Atari DOS 2.0 only due to memory
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conflicts with other DOS environments.- Well it also works with 2.5 but
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nothing else. I tried and it doesn't. This means the even though when you
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pull down the Disk menu and click on Format and the dialog box asks you if
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you want single or double density; single is all you get. With 2.5, it
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does format in enhanced density.
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This is a major flaw. It means that with Diamond you can forget about
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using your US Doubler, Indus or your brand new XF551 drive to its full
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potential. You can install up to seven drives in Diamond but there is no
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mention of hard-disk support and even if you have RAMDISK.COM on a 2.5
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Diamond disk, you can't install a RAMdisk. What you probably need is a
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RAMdisk desk accessory.
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While we're talking about drives and flaws... I have two 1050's on my
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system (one with a US Doubler) so I installed Drive B on my Desktop. When
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I'd double click on a drive icon (or single click, drop down the File menu
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and click on Open), I'd get a directory window. If you double click on a
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binary file (or single click, go to menu and click on Open), it loads and
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runs. If you want to copy a file with one drive, you click on the file to
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hi-light it, drop down the File menu, click on Duplicate, then just
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follow the prompts for switching disks. You can also copy an entire disk
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by selecting Duplicate from the Disk menu. A dialog box asks for source
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and destination drives and if you want the destination formated. All of
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these functions work fine, though slowly because of the 14K memory driver
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(especially the single drive duplicate). You discover the flaw when you
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try to copy a file from one drive to another.The manual tells you to,
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-Drag file to another disk icon.- So you double-click on a drive icon and
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get a directory window. Then you click and drag your filename to the other
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drive icon. A dialog box asks you (if you have the confirm feature active)
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if you're sure. Tell it yes and your file will be copied. This all works
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fine if you are copying from Drive B to Drive A. If you attempt to copy a
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file from Drive A to Drive B, Diamond will simply write the file over-top
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of itself on Drive A. The only way Diamond will copy from A to B is by
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duplicating a whole disk. This is a major bug that might be expected in a
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Beta test version but can not be tolerated in a commercial release.
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While I'm on the bad stuff, here's a few more items. In the middle of
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disk IO, for no apparent reason, Diamond will pause for 20-30 seconds and
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then suddenly remember what it was doing and finish up. This is a totally
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random occurrence. You can quit from the desktop to BASIC (run cartridge)
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and if you quit from .APP programs, you return to the desktop. You cannot
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return from BASIC to the desktop with the DOS command. You might think
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this is because the Diamond utility package is named AUTORUN.SYS instead
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of DUP.SYS. Wrong! If you rename AUTORUN.SYS to DUP.SYS and then use the
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BASIC DOS command; it does try to load but you end up with garbage on the
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screen and a locked keyboard. The only sure way to return to the desktop
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from BASIC is to reboot the system.
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You can drag you icons all over the screen and the use the Save Desktop
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option from the Options menu. You can also drag the directory window
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around but its default location (center of the screen) cannot be changed.
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The only place you can put the icons where you can use them (not covered
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by the directory window when it pops up) is the left or right edge of the
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screen. You can expand the size of the window but the sliders are not
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functional. You have to repeatedly double click on the arrows to move
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your directory listing up or down.
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You can grab a file and drag it to the garbage can to delete it. You
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cannot grab a bunch of files and dump them in the can. You can also only
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copy, lock or rename one file at a time. There is no printer support at
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all from the desktop. I guess that would be another one of them desk .ACC
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things. One final complaint, no time-date stamping. I guess I can still
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put off buying ICD's R-Time cartridge.Let's sum this all up. Diamond OS
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does look nice. It is a graphic operating system for the Atari 8-bit
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computers (but so was the GOS demo that Total Control Systems released
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into the public domain two years and everything on it worked). It is not
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an efficient operating system. It is slow and many of its functions take
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a lot of clicking and mouse moving as opposed to the few keystrokes
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needed for more conventional DOS'es. It lacks what many consider vital
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features; such as double density support. I will not be found re-doing
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all my disks and putting Diamond OS on them. I have not yet tried to load
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a great deal of software from the desktop but I have suspicions that a
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lot will not be compatible.
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On the other hand. It is a start, a step in the right direction. The
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manual promises upgrades at a reasonable price for registered owners (got
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to send that warranty card in). There should be a FREE upgrade to everyone
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who has version with copy A to B bug. I am still interested in the other
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Diamond programs. Diamond Write is supposed to be an 80 column word
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processor with built in spell-checker. Diamond Paint is alleged to be
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capable of importing Degas and MacPaint picture files. And Diamond Publish
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may even be close to a real Desktop Publishing program. The price is
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certainly nice. Only $29.95 each. I purchased Diamond OS from Software
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Discounters of America (Go SDA on Compuserve) for only $19.00. If they
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decide to carry the whole line, you could save a total of $40 by buying
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from them.
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With improvements, quality programs that use its environment and public
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domain support (need those desk .ACC's) this Diamond in the rough might
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yet be cut and polished into a real GEMstone. Of course there's that STjr
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cartridge based system from Total Control Systems to keep in mind. It does
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support time date-stamping from what I've seen. Hmmmm?
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##############################
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<*> ZNET Newswire
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##############################
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by Ron Kovacs
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According to Electronic Buisness Magazine, the Top 10 software companies
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were:
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Lotus Development
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Oracle Systems
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Microsoft
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Apple Computer
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Compaq Computer
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Ashton-Tate
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Seagate Technology
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Western Digital
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Cray Research
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Inmac.
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Ashton-Tate filed a suit in December against Fox Software Inc for
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copyright infringment of dBASE II, III and III Plus.
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Claris Corp released AppleWorks GS in late November. This is a six
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application package which takes advantage of the IIGS's windows, graphics
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and color capabilities.
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##############################
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<*> PR:C MODIFICATION
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##############################
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by WK Whitton
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Just as ICD has continued to support the Atari 8 bit computer, so shall
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Zmag! And speaking of ICD, how would you like to be able to modify your
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PR: Connection? -For what possible reason? you ask. Well, it seems that
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there is a problem with using Atariwriter Plus and the PR: Connection
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(although of the several Atariwriter+/PR: Connection owners I interviewed,
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none experienced this problem).
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When you reload the spellchecker, the RS232 handler is also reloaded. Now
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the old 850 interface doesn't allow this, you load it one time (remember
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that horrid, whiny -Booooooooooop!), and therefore there is no hassle. But
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being of advanced design, the PR: Connection will allow reloading of the
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handler. So.........as you back in and out of the spellchecker, the RS232
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handler keeps reloading, thus pushing the MEMLO up and up, and suddenly..
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Kee-rash! Here's what you need to do to an OUT OF WARRANTY PR: Connection
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to alleviate this problem.
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CHECKLIST MODIFICATION
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_____ 1. Lay the PR: Connection face down on a soft surface.
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_____ 2. Remove the 4 Phillips head screws from the bottom of the unit
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and set these aside. Also, turn the unit over, and remove the
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top cover, placing it in a safe place.
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_____ 3. Note the Revision number marked on the upper right hand side of
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the PC board. If it is Rev. 4 or higher you are in luck, as
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this modification was thought of and the board was laid out to
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accommodate it easily! If it IS REV 4 or higher, please perform
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step 4. If it is LOWER than REV 4, please perform step 5. There
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is NO need to do both as they do the same thing, but on a
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different version of the PR:.
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_____ 4. Hold the PR: Connection with the 3 ports facing you. Look
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directly behind the port connector marked R2. You will observe
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two little -silver dots-, these are called -solder pads-. They
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will be marked -R1 off-. That's just what they do, they turn
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off the R1 port! Solder a 4- #22 wire to each of these solder
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pads.
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_____ 5. Remove the pc board from its housing and turn it over. In the
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center of the board you will notice an IC that looks like it is
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square (Its cool but square...heh heh). Notice one side of the
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chip has a dot plainly visible on it. This is pin 1. Count
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around the outside of the chip, moving toward the right, and
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locate pin 36. Solder a 6- piece of #22 wire here, and then
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place the board back into its case. Solder a 4- piece of #22
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wire to ground.
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_____ 6. Obtain a small toggle switch, and mount it in a convienient
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location on the case of the PR: Connection.
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_____ 7. Solder the two wires to the switch.
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_____ 8. Replace the cover on the unit, and away you go!
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Here are some additional hardware notes:
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While at the PACE computer show, I beheld something interesting on an MIO
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on display there. Instead of the solid panel on the MIO that I become
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accustomed to seeing, there were two screen-like panels to allow free
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airflow. When I inquired of Tom about the availability of these panels, he
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said that MIO owners could obtain these by getting intouch with ICD. He
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only asks that you have a mental picture of the layout of the side of the
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MIO where the on-off switch is. Tom informed me that there were two
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different configurations, and thus 2 different possibilities of panels to
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obtain.
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And lastly, if you are the owner of an Atari 1050, and you have upgraded
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it with the -Doubler- from ICD, you know how wonderful the high speed and
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true double density can be! If for some reason the IC installed in U10
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should ever go bad, you can obtain a replacement by sending the original,
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along with $7 to the good folk at ICD, and they will send you a
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replacement.
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Well, if you don't own products from these fine folk, I trust I have shown
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you that ICD provides virtually unmatched user support in the Atari 8 bit
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world! You can do no better than to purchase any of their fine products!
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ICD's address and phone are:
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ICD
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1220 Rock Street
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Rockford, ILL 61101-437
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Voice: 815-968-2228 BBS: 815-968-2229
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##############################
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<*> DATAQUE UPDATE
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##############################
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From: Chuck Steinman/DataQue
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A status breakdown on the Turbo-816:
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1) We are currently running behind schedule because of one of the main
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people originally working on the project, is no longer working for DataQue.
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2) Beta units should be shipping, we have determined the people which we
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are going to be using, and information to those people will be mailed out
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Tuesday the 27th of December.
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3) There are two items at this point that are a supply problem, and could
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affect the schedule if I cannot find stock, but at at this time it looks
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as if that should clear up before 1/89.
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4) The Turbo-OS is in the debugging stages, and is the only thing from our
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end remaining to to do.
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5) The price at this point, factory direct, is what was published in the
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last mailing.... that is $119.95 + $4.05 shipping. Also, the same user
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group discounts still apply, and all registered people will receive the
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10% discount coupon.
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6) We are still communicating with Atari on several license options going
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both directions.
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7) It looks at this point that if an outside graphical OS is supported
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that it will be GOE, The makers of Diamond have not provided me with
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requested information, and the working product I need to evaluate it. Also
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Reevesoft implies I would have to finance any 16-bit version of Diamond.
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This is not acceptable. TCS on the other hand has been very cooperative,
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and also has the advantage of being more readily available. We are still
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looking at an in-house GOS, so that is yet a third possibility.
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8) If you have requested info on the Turbo-816, you will receive notice as
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soon as we have product available. I realize many have been waiting since
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November for the T816, and I know it is difficult to wait for such a
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significant product, but I refuse to ship before I personally feel it is
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bug free. A wait of a few weeks, is insignificant compared to the many
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years that there was not even a hope of such a product. I had not planned
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on even making the public aware of the T816 until mid-November to begin
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with, for that reason, I felt releasing dates in mid-September was
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foolish, but the info leaked out and I had to make the best of it, I did
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not count on some of the problems, legalities, and misleading information
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I have been delt.
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##############################
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<*> ANTIC Software on CIS
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##############################
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Compiled by Ron Kovacs
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Ctsy CompuServe SIG*Atari
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The following files are available to those who can access CompuServe's
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Atari 8 Bit SIG. This list was compiled by scanning each of the Data
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Libraries. Not all of the libraries contained Antic files. If you are
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interested in signing up for CompuServe, Please send your name and address
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to: 71777,2140 for more information.
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1988 Additions
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FILENAME.EXT/Type UPLOAD DATE BYTES LIBRARY
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=====================================================================
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BIO.BAS/binary 04-May-88 11264 1 (Games)
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BLKBOX.BAS/binary 12-Dec-88 7424 1
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BLKBOX.DOC 12-Dec-88 2432 1
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BOUNCE.BAS/binary 04-May-88 2432 1
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CREATE.ARC/binary 14-Jul-88 9984 1
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CREATE.DOC 14-Jul-88 8064 1
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DUNGIN.BAS/binary 06-May-88 18688 1
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ENTRE.BAS/binary 14-Jul-88 32128 1
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ENTRE.DOC 14-Jul-88 7680 1
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GALEON.EXE/binary 22-Apr-88 4480 1
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HELL.BAS/binary 27-Oct-88 11904 1
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HELL.DOC 27-Oct-88 5632 1
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HOTCOL.BAS/binary 22-Apr-88 4096 1
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JOY8.BAS/binary 04-May-88 1280 1
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KENO.BAS/binary 27-Oct-88 10240 1
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KENO.EXE/binary 27-Oct-88 24704 1
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KENOB.DOC 27-Oct-88 3584 1
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KENOE.DOC 27-Oct-88 1536 1
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MMB.BAS/binary 22-Apr-88 13952 1
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PEGBRD.BAS/binary 04-May-88 2944 1
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PRESQZ.BAS/binary 05-Apr-88 4480 1
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RECALL.BAS/binary 08-Aug-88 8832 1
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RECALL.DOC 08-Aug-88 2560 1
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RESIST.BAS/binary 05-Apr-88 12032 1
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ROLOUT.BAS/binary 04-May-88 4096 1
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SSIJ6.BAS/binary 04-May-88 1024 1
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SSIJ6.DRV/binary 04-May-88 128 1
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SSIJ6.M65/binary 04-May-88 1536 1
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SSIJ8.DRV/binary 04-May-88 128 1
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SSIJ8.M65/binary 04-May-88 2688 1
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TERNAT.BAS/binary 05-Aug-88 7424 1
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TERNAT.DOC 05-Aug-88 3712 1
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THROTL.ARC/binary 08-Aug-88 2816 2 (Telecom)
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THROTL.DOC 08-Aug-88 3456 2
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PROOF.BAS/binary 06-Aug-88 512 3 (Utilities)
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XEGS.ARC/binary 12-Dec-88 11904 3
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SNOWFL.BAS/binary 21-Sep-88 3072 4
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GILMIC.PIC/binary 16-Oct-88 7808 4
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##############################
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<*> XF551 Modification
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##############################
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by Bob Woolley
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It has been almost a year since I first got my hands on an XF551. Busy
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little hands... Of course, the first thing I did was to tear the thing
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|
apart to see how it was put together. And, maybe do a little -put-ing
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|
myself. As a result, I have made a few modifications that may be of
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|
interest to other XF551 owners. You will not be able to successfully make
|
|
these changes unless you have reasonably decent electronic skills, so
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|
don't gamble with your new XF551 unless you know what you are doing. Most
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|
User Groups have skilled members that will be happy to guide you if you
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|
need help.
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|
|
First
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But, before I get caught up in details of the drive, I would like to
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clarify some points on the XF551.
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The drive IS double sided and can read and write in single, enhanced or
|
|
double density. The -book- that comes with the drive is incorrect. MyDOS,
|
|
SuperDOS and SpartaDOS can all format the drive as double sided and double
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|
density.
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|
|
|
Previous Atari drives did not use the INDEX hole on the diskette, which
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|
allowed us to flip the disk over and format the back of the media. The
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|
XF551 uses a standard, bone stock, IBM style drive. It uses INDEX. It will
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|
not FORMAT the back of a diskette unless the disk jacket has two index
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|
holes. It WILL read and write to the back of any disk. Guaranteed!
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|
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|
On side one, the tracks on the disk are written from the outer edge in,
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|
from 0 to 39. On side two, the tracks are written from the inner edge out.
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|
This allows us to read the first 40 tracks of a DSDD diskette on a SSDD
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|
drive. The second side is not backwards nor could it be read on a SS drive
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|
even if you changed it.
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|
|
The speed of the drive is NOT 288 RPM, the speed you are used to seeing,
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|
but 300 RPM, the industry standard. The XF551 compensates for the
|
|
difference by using a clock frquency 4% (.33mhz) higher than it should be.
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|
This will read and write the data in exactly the same place on the disk as
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|
your 288 RPM drive, although programs that measure the speed of the drive
|
|
will read 300 RPM.
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|
|
|
Talking To The Drive
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|
|
|
The XF551, as it comes from Atari, has the ability to format a disk in any
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|
of three configurations: single density (SSSD-88K), 1050 density (SSED-
|
|
127K) and double-sided, double density (DSDD-360K). The DSDD format has a
|
|
standard skew (skew is the physical sequence of the sectors on the disk)
|
|
and a high speed skew option available to the user. This extra skew layout
|
|
allows faster data transfers on the SIO buss, much like the ICD Doubler
|
|
upgrade on the 1050.
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|
|
|
For those of you interested in programming, the DSDD format SIO command is
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|
$23. For a high speed skew format in DSDD, you just need to turn on bit 7
|
|
for a value of $A3 (the SSSD and SSED formats do not have a high speed
|
|
skew, although the drive will transfer data at high speed in those
|
|
densities).
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|
|
|
To transmit data at high speed to and from the XF551, just set bit 7 of
|
|
the command to -1- again (a get sector ($52) with bit 7 on is $D2). You
|
|
must still send the command frame at the normal SIO rate ($28 in $D204)
|
|
and then set $D204 to $10 for high speed operation during the data frame.
|
|
The drive will also recognize the Put (and Get) Option Table command ($4F
|
|
and $4E), which are similar to the Percom configuration table operations.
|
|
Only bytes 4-8 are changed by the Put command, however, and only the three
|
|
supported formats will be recognized. Even if you sent the Option Table a
|
|
512 byte sector size, you would only get 256 byte sectors. A number of the
|
|
newest DOS versions (SpartaDOSX, SuperDOS 5.0, DOSXE) now have XF551
|
|
support built in. Also, a file is available in the Atari8 area on
|
|
Compuserve that will modify SpartaDOS 3.2D for the XF551 features (in DL3
|
|
XF32D.BAS). Using any of these methods will transfer data almost twice as
|
|
fast as DOS 2.0.
|
|
|
|
Into The Hardware.
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|
|
|
The first thing you notice about the ICs in the drive is the one in a nice
|
|
socket, the ROM. Makes it a lot easier to burn an EPROM (use a 2764) to
|
|
make code change if you can just plug and unplug your devices. I didn't
|
|
see the ROM source code printed anywhere, so I wrote a simple dis-
|
|
assembler for the 8050 MPU used as the brains of the drive. It was very
|
|
nice when Atari used a 6507 (which uses 6502 OPCodes) in their drives but,
|
|
no more. Everything Atari comes out with now seems to use a different chip
|
|
and this 8050 stuff was a bear. Finally, I got most of the program logic
|
|
worked out and designed some changes:
|
|
|
|
One upgrade that was available for the 1050 is a ROM change that will
|
|
re-address the drive as D5: thru D8:. This can be done on the XF551 ROM
|
|
by altering location $0095 from $31 to $35 ($33 gives you a range of D3:
|
|
to D6:, etc.).
|
|
|
|
Having 360K is nice. Having 720K is even nicer. Putting a 720K, 3.5 inch
|
|
drive in place of the stock drive is not too hard, so let's start with the
|
|
ROM. There is a little bug in the code that allows the drive to start
|
|
writing the track before it has reached operating speed. To remedy that,
|
|
change $528 from $90 to $00, $C1D from $88 to $80 and $E25 from $88 to
|
|
$80. The 720K drive has 80 tracks per side which requires you to change
|
|
$680 from $28 to $50, $80F from $30 to $60 and $811 from $FD to $FA. A
|
|
3.5 inch drive uses a 3ms seek time - change $53D from $00 to $03, $57B
|
|
from $18 to $13, $9D1 from $08 to $03, and $B15 from $18 to $13. Finally,
|
|
the 3.5s use write pre-compensation - change $61D from $F6 to $F4, $621
|
|
from $F6 to $F4 and $D0D from $A2 to $A0. For a drive, I used a unit from
|
|
JDR Microdevices (MF353B Mitsubishi) that plugs right into the 5.25
|
|
connectors and uses the same mountings as the larger drive. This
|
|
simplifies the installation quite a bit. When you go to plug in the 3.5,
|
|
you may notice that the 34 pin cable is too short. I de-soldered the
|
|
connector and added a longer cable, but one hacker, Joe Wyks, managed to
|
|
pry the top off of the board connector and crimp his new cable into place
|
|
without soldering. The power connector can be adapted with cables made for
|
|
that purpose, if necessary.
|
|
|
|
That's about all that's needed to run a 720K 3.5. Format a disk using
|
|
SpartaDOS XINIT, option 7 (DS 80 tracks) and start filling it up! You now
|
|
have 2820 DD sectors. Bob Woolley [75126,3446]
|
|
#########################################################################
|
|
Conveyance of Zmagazine courtesy of PayBax BBS, Wilmington, DE.
|
|
302-731-5558 All Bauds/All Hours
|
|
#########################################################################
|
|
SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE, Issue #138, Copyright (C)1989 SPC, Rovac
|
|
January 3, 1989
|
|
ZMAG,ZMAGAZINE,ZNET,STZMAG,SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE,(C)1988, 1989
|
|
#########################################################################
|