7:00 PM PST Sunday 2-February-88 (Sysop Tony) Hi Denny (Sysop Denny) Hi Tony (Sysop Tony) Well, we'll see who shows up tonight. (Sysop Denny) Hi Chirstopher! (ChristopherFrancesc) greetings q just checking in to see whether anyone has heard anything new on the SoundSight GoldCard. Had requested some info from them three weeks ago which they said would be hot off the press "in a day or two" and am still (im)patiently waiting (Sysop Tony) Denny, do you have any new info? I don't. (Sysop Denny) No, the only info we have was from Mike Nugent who left a message a few weeks ago. Seems he had a pre-production unit and was messing with it. None of the advertised software was available at that time. (Sysop Tony) No one has yet reported having a production unit. Anything else, Chris? (ChristopherFrancesc) Thanks for the info. Anyone have any experience with the print buffer being sold by Ultrasoft the 64K unit for around $69? (Sysop Tony) You'll find a review in DL13. The author found it very useful. I tried two of them and neither one worked. Flip a coin, I guess. Any more? (ChristopherFrancesc) that's it for the moment. thanks (Sysop Tony) OK. .... ga Mark (Phil) [Hi!] (MARK) I'M NEW WITH COMPUTERS ,I WANT TO KNOW THAT THE VOICE SYNTHEISOR CAN BE USED IN MY 102 (Sysop Tony) OK, the Voice Synthesizer can be used with your 102. Provided you are a hardware hacker, an electronic technician, and can ... (Dave S.) Hi all (Sysop Tony) design and make kits work. Any more on that, Mark? (MARK) IT WHAT DETAILS PUTTING THE CHIP IN (Sysop Tony) Mark, perhaps you don't understand what's involved. First off, either you buy a ready-made speech synthesizer, which plugs into your RS-232 port, and you write software to make it "talk", or you buy a bunch of parts from Radio Shack, and build one yourself. None of it "plugs into the 102" like a "Chip" does. (MARK) IN BACK OF THE 102 THERS A SPACE LABELED M6 CAN A PREPROGRAMED "CHIP"GO THERE (Sysop Tony) Does anyone have a 102, and can you explain what M6 is for? It most certainly is NOT for a speech synthesizer. ga Tom (Tom H) M6 is for the 8K expansion chip (Sysop Tony) OK, thanks Tom. Any more questions, Mark? (Jon D) [hi!] (MARK) EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE NO (Sysop Tony) It's OK, Mark... we all started at the beginning. (Dave S.) hey does anyone know if WriteROM is still made for the M100? (MARK) LOG C (Sysop Denny) Dave, Yes - that and Lucid and SuperROM are the only three M100 products that PCSG is still selling. They are not producing any more new chips for the M100, but they are continuing with these three for the time being. (Sysop Tony) Any more on this, Dave? (Dave S.) no (Sysop Tony) OK... ga Mark - Mark seems to have disappeared. ga Chris (ChristopherFrancesc) Yet another hardware/software question Does anyone out there have an~ex@er]~[~ (Jon D) [have a what?] (ChristopherFrancesc) experience with (Sysop Tony) (Can't you read that, Jon? (grin)) (ChristopherFrancesc) Can you read me, something's generating gibberish (Phil) [Expert modem maybe??] (Sysop Tony) You've got a noisy phone line, Chris. go ahead, and finish your sentence. (Jon D) [expletives?- maybe CIS censors!] (ChristopherFrancesc) Here goes again...anyone have any experience w Anyone have any experience with Supera--is it a wort Is it a worthwhile bit of software...? (Phil) [not a Wort, for sure!] (Sysop Tony) Chris, there is probably at least one user-written review ... an probably more ... (Jon D) [yes, there is] (Sysop Tony) in DL13. But there is probably a user or two lurking here, too. Anyone want to comment on Supera? (Phil) Supera is a very nice package -- but very much a "tool" I would say. It does give some nice utilities such as macros and oeverwrite, but the latter can also be had in some ROMs that are available. Supera sits in low RAM and if you use other low RAM resident programms, be sure you will not have a confilct. I understand from recent msgs that there is a new version available from somewhere. It is a bit RAM hungry (4K +) but worth it if you need its features. There are two files on it in DL13. Do BRO/KEY=SUPER or maybe BRO SUPERA there. (ChristopherFrancesc) PhilPhil, do you happen to know whether Supera and WriteRom/Super are compatible it sure would be nice to have the overwrite option in WriteRom. (Phil) My experience is that they are ... (Eiji) [Hello] (Phil) but I doubt if you can use Supera from within WRITEROM -- so in that sense they may not be (ChristopherFrancesc) thanks (Jon D) the compatibility would depend on how Supera and the ROM both grab the RST 7 hooks if they both try to grab the same one....trouble! (Sysop Tony) Any more questions on this, Chris? (ChristopherFrancesc) as nearly as no, thanks, (Phil) [they both grab everything in sight, Jon!] (Sysop Tony) OK... on to Eric. ga Eric (Jon D) [figures] (Eric) Ok...(bad phone line hang on) (Jon D) g q [oops] (Phil) Lokks liikeDenny and Tony got dumped (Jon D) [hmmm] (Sysop Tony) Hmmmm (Phil) TA is back! (Sysop Tony) Eric, can you go on? No, he's not here. (Jon D) [wha' happened?] (Sysop Tony) There was a big dump. (Sysop Denny) Did anyone else get dumped? (ChristopherFrancesc) anyes (Phil) Just you and Tony (Sysop Denny) Figures. (ERIC WEINSTEIN) OK, I'm back...sorry about that! (Phil) [I had very short transient] (Sysop Tony) OK... Did you have a question, Eric? (ERIC WEINSTEIN) sure I'm been using Eiji's wonderfully program worpro. but I'm got a glitch. prehaps one of you can help? (Sysop Tony) Well, Eiji is here, so what is the problem? (ERIC WEINSTEIN) It locks the carrage on advance at the end of pages (sometimes).The roller just keeps on turning no matter what What did I do to your nice program ,Eiji? It's a Brother HR-1. Same a Diablo 630. takes sheets. (Eiji) Well, maybe you should check the page length and bottom margin settings That's all I can think about Another thought... You should try PRN100 in DL2; it's much better formatter and I used it instead of Worpro myself. (ERIC WEINSTEIN) Ok, Thanks, I'll try both of those , but this is so far the most elaborite formatter I've found. (Sysop Tony) OK.... Anymore on that subject, anyone? No more, I guess.... ga Jon (Jon D) Tony/Phil/?, has anyone been following the ideas on TS-DOS in the msgs as far as hooking into the ML routines to simulate some of the POWR-DOS/DISK commands? (Sysop Tony) Afraid I haven't, Jon. .. don't have much use for that sort of thing. (Phil) Since I have POWR-DOS, I'm not too motivated. And TS-DOS has its own BAsic command structure. So why bother? (Jon D) mostly, the idea is for the purpose of solving some ... (Phil) Maybe I'm missing something!! (Jon D) minor incompatibilities in the SPLCHK system. Who all else around uses TS-DOS? (Sysop Tony) Well, "Some of the incompatibilities" can be solved by simply adjusting the programs to what you need. I understand about the SAVEM difference. but it seems to me if you can figure out what it's supposed to do, you can change it to do what you want. The various DOS's are not identical. There is some differences which must be adjusted for by the program. (Jon D) yes, I can set up a Basic routine to simulate the SAVEM but if I can find a way to do it with hooking into the ML it will be much faster, and a trick that I could use in other programs as well. (Sysop Tony) Granted. If we completely disassembled, commented and defined the DOS's, we could do just about whatever we wanted with them. Didn't you post a long note about that last week? (Jon D) yes... and I see that it would be a pain especially dealing with different DOS's and different versions I suppose that the ideal would be for some one to come up with a P/D DOS that does all the best of the best (Sysop Tony) Well, one of the things that bugs me about machine language stuff is that you can't get COMMENTED versions anywhere. Without being an expert ML programmer, it's very difficult to understand what's happening, even when you're looking at the code. (Jon D) [AMEN!] (Phil) Jon said it ... what we need is a PD relocatable OS with 0: capability and one for both TDD1 and TDD2. Any takers on this project?? (Jon D) [good luck] (Sysop Tony) Any more on this topic guys? (Jon D) not me (Sysop Tony) OK.... ga Chris (ChristopherFrancesc) while we're on the subject of DOS's and being relatively new at all of this, what's the best DOS for use with the TDD1 and with the SuperRom my only experience with Ultrasoft has been a bit of a bust. (Sysop Tony) Personally, I can't keep track of what works with this, and doesn't work with that. What is best, or second best, What features each one has or doesn't have. There are a large number of reviews, discussions and insights in DL13 in various files. .... Suggest you start by reading DISKOS.INF, and go from there. (Paul) TS-DOS works well with SuperROM and if you leave DOS-ON, WRITE ROM will have disk access via the Load and Save 0: commands... (Sysop Tony) Any more, Chris? (ChristopherFrancesc) thanks muchly. (Sysop Tony) Wanna see my slides???? (Sysop Denny) Well, In leiu of slides, I'll just mention a little project that I've been mulling over It seems that there is no way to edit large files With any of the new mega rams (BP, Vault, Gold Card) but there is that capability in Powr-Dos I have been looking at D-TEXT, the program that can edit any size file on disk for use with large rams. In the case of the Booster Pack, it hopefully will just be a matter of removing the disk functions and replacing them with "R:". Now, if I could just figure out how to get rid of all that disk stuff It's not very clear. (Phil) Ah but will POWR-DOS work with BP? If so you've go a shot. Seems like listing D-TEXT gives lots of graphisc, though. True? (Sysop Denny) Well, LFILES V doesn't work, so I can't use it directly That's why I wanted to get rid of any references to the TDD (not needed anyway) But, you're right, there is a lot of graphics but fortunately, it all has to do with the disk. (ChristopherFrancesc) As far as the Vault is concerned Peter at PG Designs claims that at some point in the near future Vault will have the capability of editing files of virtually ... (Phil) [Hah! -- this century?] (ChristopherFrancesc) unlimited size...apparently by switching in 16K batches of a .do file. ... (Sysop Denny) [he said "next week" 3 months ago] (ChristopherFrancesc) whether there's any hope of that in this century or next...who knows as I can't even get the basic VAULT to work and who knows whether he'd ever get a global ... (Tom H) [that's why I returned my Vault] (ChristopherFrancesc) search and replace to work with that kind of methology (Sysop Tony) Peter has a track record of talking about products that never come to market. ... (Phil) [Mythology?] (Sysop Tony) Or at least about products that he hopes will be developed, but never are. (Sysop Denny) Well, I have received letters from Peter that say "hang in there". (Paul) His last endeavor, and I do not know if it will come to pass ... (Sysop Tony) (The 200 owners have been "hanging in there" for over two years!) (Paul) was about a 4 bank (96K) replacement for each of the T200's 24 K module. (Sysop Tony) Another pipe dream (Phil) On the other side I have one of his 224K BAnked RAMS for the 100 and I have had NO trouble with it. In fact, I think it has advantages over contiguos RAM No way anyone can go wrong with that. Vault has been a surprising... (ChristopherFrancesc) I've gotten the same flop ?? (Phil) disappointment, it seems. Vaporware is one thing; real stuff that does not perform as claimed is quite another! (Sysop Tony) No question that he builds a good product... once he get's it finished. Problem is, there's a lot of stuff he never gets finished. (Sysop Denny) [agree] (Phil) [generally agree!] (Jon D) for Phil, re XMDPW5 is the trap that sends an XOFF when the rs232 buffer overflows in the ROM code, or soft, in XMDPW5? (Phil) Got me I did not code that part of it. It is a hack of XMD100, as you know and I hack only when results make it necessary (or to enhance) problems?? (Jon D) reason I ask is, I've been having some trouble with some BBS's in that the flow control isn't jiving straight at least not fast enough to keep from losing characters (at 1200bd) so I was hoping to find the number that triggers the XOFF send so that I could set it to send sooner. (Sysop Denny) I've had that problem with most BBS's and most software for the M100 I don't think it's a problem with the software ... More a problem with the screen scroll of the M100 If I go above 300 baud on some BBS's I ALWAYS lose characters. It's as though the M100 just doesn't send the X-off soon enough to stop the flow. (Phil) I suspect it is in ROM. seems the ring taks 64 chars, but sends Xoff on the 40th. on the other hand, I never loose chars with FLTIBM and that is running at 9600 baud. But maybe the delay over the phone for the sender to get the Xoff and respond is the problem. Course CIS is not the speediest, either, with the packet system. (Paul) What comm program are you talking about? (Jon D) [XMDPW5] (Phil) XMDPW5, DL3 (Sysop Denny) [x-tel does it too] (Jon D) if I can set it to send the Xoff sooner than 40 chars in buffer, I can probably lose fewer chars. ...? (Phil) I can take a looks at that, but probably not until March. Working 80-90 hrs doing un-fun stuff just now. (Jon D) understand. .... me too mostly, it's a problem of the host computer, anyway Th}ie board where I have the most trouble was fine until they got their new modem....2400 bd, and they just don't have everything set right yet. Maybe Tandy will someday come up with a faster LCD...(is 102?) (Sysop Tony) Any more comments anyone? (Phil) [102 is same speed, I think] (Paul) Denny...do you have the BP internal worldport? (Sysop Denny) No, external. (Phil) I think the internal modem is an external one put inside. Is that your understanding, Denny? (Sysop Denny) [pizza time] Yes, but there are a few mods namely that the cable is hardwired to the modem that connects to the m100 RS232. (Paul) Huh? (Sysop Tony) What do you mean by "huh?", Paul? (Paul) I musta missed something...what's hard-wired?? (Phil) [as in "Huh, Huh?] (Sysop Tony) Soldered in. Denny? (Paul) The worldport is soldered to the M100 rs232?? (Phil) [mayhap he "went ahead"] (Sysop Tony) Mayhap he went out for pizza. I believe he was referring to a version of the Worldport, or whatever, that is built into the Booster Pak. (Phil) [Here but not here; we could beep him into submission!] (Sysop Tony) Right! Everyone beep him at once. (heh heh) Any more on this topic, guys? Comments take precedence over Questions. Heeerrrre's Johhhhhnnnny! (Ron) Zzzzzz (Sysop Tony) If no one has any pressing questions, we might as well close this conference early, and save you all some connect charges. Any objections? (Phil) NOPE! (Eiji) No (Ron) Zzzz (Phil) I have nothing of import! (ever!) (Paul) bye (Sysop Tony) OK Well, it looks like we're out of time for this evening's conference. So I'll end the formal conference now. Feel free to stick around and chat further, if you like. Thanks for coming tonight, we appreciate your input. Bye. *** END OF FORMAL CONFERENCE *** Good night. (Eiji) Good night, everyone. Conference ended at 8:40 PM PST List of Participants: 70721,2466 ChristopherFrancesc 70721,2713 Mark 71266,125 Phil 72227,1661 Paul 72300,3645 Ron 72407,3224 Marty T 72446,3565 Tom H 73127,2630 Dave S. 73327,2353 Jon D 75046,2325 Jon Olson 76672,577 Eric 76701,40 Sysop Denny 76703,4062 Sysop Tony 76703,4311 Eiji