10:59:39 AM EST Sunday, January 12, 1986 (Sysop .^Dave^.) But t'is time as the walrus said so we can get this show on the road with the TOPIC of Tandy disk drive operating system from Acroatix and the TMPC program from same source; our Special Guest is Ed Giese who really IS Acroatix. Questions on the Tandy disk drive new operating system from Acroatix and/or the TMPC time planning program are the order of business this morning. (Thom) Just wondering why* I should need another operating system for casual use of the TDD? (Ed G.) It really depends on how casual your use is. POWR-DISK offers two main advantages: 1) it takes up less room, and 2) it supports the Tdd as a device, instead of a simple storage box. The first part is not enough, perhaps, to justify buying POWR-DISK, now that there are improved utilities right here on the SIG. However, the device part has its advantages. You can access the TDD right from TEXT, for instance, and, more importantly, you can load CO files straight from the TDD to where they run in HIMEM. The Model 100 version occupies 2110 bytes while active, and about 1950 in a CO file. 200 Version available soon, but the numbers won't be finalized until it's done. Looks now like it will be the same or perhaps a little shorter. (Thom) Is it going to be available in ROM? TMPC for 200? Maybe in same ROM? (Ed G.) We will consider working on a ROM version once we know better how people are going to react to POWR-DISK in RAM. It doesn't take up THAT much memory, but it would be nice to be able to have it there after a coldstart. TMPC is another issue. I can't comment on TMPC availability for the 200 now. TMPC - $49.95 POWR-DISK $39.95 both have $3 shipping. As for now, we are only accepting M100 orders. (STEVE CROUCH) Ed won't the tmpc utility allow me to use the tdd with TMPC? (Ed G.) Yes, you can use TMPC with FLOPPY.CO by using FUTIL.BA, or FLPML (I think) As written by Joel Dinda on this Sig. (Sysop .^Dave^.) [FLIPML.099] (Ed G.) However, none of these are even nearly as convenient as POWR-DISK, which can relocate itself and load in TMPC from the disk in a single keystroke, once you set up a small BASIC program to do it. (STEVE CROUCH) where does the tdd reside in men? (Ed G.) I gess you mean POWR-DISK software. With POWR-DISK active, MAXRAM has a value of 60850 on the M100. This is 2110 bytes lower than the default 62960 value. It resides in "high memory," just where most other m/l programs reside, e.g. FLOPPY.CO, which starts at 59400. POWR-DISK lowers MAXRAM, and leaves HIMEM wherever it is set when you activate it. FLOPPY.CO needs to have HIMEM set at 59400 or lower or it won't work. Different values for the M200, of course, but the M100 values are etched in my brain. (Maddi) Ed- I caught Woods Martin's MOST complimentary message to you re: your product, services & yourself. ANYTHING Woods is up to is worth sharing: being interested in DVI applications, etc. could you share his doings with us? (Ed G.) All I got from Woods that I know of was a confirmation that he got the copy of POWR-DISK we sent him. I really don't know what else he is doing with it. Sorry. (Maddi) Evidently he is using the DVI & TDD together, with your software, or plans to. Please keep us posted on their compatibilities. (Bill S) Is there a long description of P-D in the DL's? ashamed to; say havent read the messages in awhile. (Ed G.) See POWR-D.PRD in DL 6. (rowlfe) on tmpc, is it possible to have an item repeat after a number of days, rather than based on the day of the week? such as after every 6 days or every 90 days, etc. (Ed G.) Sorry, but that is the ONE common repeating pattern in business that TMPC cannot handle. I have gotten more than one request for it, especially for those people who do things bi-weekly. I'll have to consider it when working on TMPC II, whenever that is. (rowlfe) back to maxram, sure you don't have maxram and himem mixed??? thought maxram was fixed and himem was moveable. (Ed G.) The DVI and the Chipmunk both lower MAXRAM to protect themselve from BASIC programs with the statement, CLEAR 100, MAXRAM. POWR-DISK does this also. With the DVI, once MAXRAM has been lowered, it is not so easy to reset it, but with CDOS and POWR-DISK, the command LFILES OFF resets MAXRAM to its default value. So, MAXRAM is "semi-moveable," I guess. (Sysop Tony) Ed, seems like a MAXRAM resetter would be a good utility to have. One could load all his non conflicting ML programs, then move MAXRAM down to permanently protect them. Will you sell it as a separate program?? or contribute the instruction code to the database? (Ed G.) I may give out that code for free. As it is, POWR-DISK has a very convenient behavior in this regard. You can relocate it, then MAXRAM moves to the beginning address of the new POWR-DISK. The area ABOVE where POWR-DISK resides is, in effect, protected by MAXRAM; further, The CLEAR command will allow you to specify values ABOVE POWR-DISK, and BELOW the "default" maxram (e.g. 62960 for the M100). This allows software like the Interactive solutions chip to co-exist with POWR-DISK without any modifications at all. (Sysop Tony) Yes, but not all folks who could use the code, have a TDD. (Ed G.) I may provide the MAXRAM-lowering information on the sig. Watch for it. (John R) Ed, did you get help from Tandy's Third-Party Support people in developing PD or did you have to disect FLOPPY.CO and the TDD ROM yourselves? (Ed G.) I don't even know how to begin asking Tandy for help. I am happy enough that they don't get mad at me for coming up with alternate system s/w. I took very close care not to duplicate any of what I learned from FLOPPY.CO in POWR-DISK, except the communications codes for the TDD. (John R) Maybe tana can comment on how to get in touch with the 3rd Party People later. (Sysop .^Dave^.) she left a message up a few days ago to sumbaudee ... thought it was you John. Mebbe get it in DL 6 for regular reference. (BOB R) ON THE SUBJECT OF TANDY SUPPORT, IS THERE SOMEWHERE THAT WE HACKERS CAN GET INFO ON THE FLOPPY.CO CODE SO THAT EVERYONE WON'T HAVE TO DISASSEMBLE IT TO LEARN ABOUT IT? SORT OF LIKE INVENTING THE WHEEL OVER AGAIN, YOU KNOW. (Ed G.) I hate to be too much of a salesman, but POWR-DISK comes with a map of the POWR-DISK code. It makes things a lot easier. It IS just a map, so there is still plenty of fun. (BOB R) BY THE WAY, WHERE AND HOW DO I ORDER IT. (Ed G.) See POWR-D.PRD in DL-6 or call 1-800-225-5800 (Matt S.) Floppy.Co conflicted with PGs 64K Ram Module OS Does Power-Disk DOS also? (Ed G.) POWR-DISK behaves, with respect to BASIC programs, exactly like the cassette. Ergo, no problem. (Matt S.) Have you tried your Power-Disk with PGs Module OS. (Ed G.) No, I haven't. Although we have a PG card in-house, we never got sent the MENU program. However, I DID try it with SUPERA, which uses the same scheme for program access and storage, with no problems at all. The only conflict I see is that the Access utility we provide with POWR-DISK, named MENU.BA, obviously shares its name with PG's utility. That, however, is pretty easily fixed. (Sysop .^Dave^.) Ed, did you get a chance to read the A & J message inre TMPC that I beeped you about?? Look ok?? (Ed G.) Yes I did. Looks mighty interesting. A&J's O/S seems to share many features with POWR-DISK, and thus can behave similarly. That's the same technique a TMPC user would use with POWR-DISK, except that no phone call is necessary. (Sysop .^Dave^.) reason I asked is that Jerry also placed the info in DL 5 so I wanted to check with you. (rowlfe) back on tmpc.... is there a way to get the LPT of todays items to add a linefeed? I have started a disassembly to look for the routines and was wondering if there might be a simpler way. (Ed G.) The code to print out today's appts and to-do's was written at a lower level than the device driver. So, (groan) the LF patches available here and elsewhere will have no effect. You have a right to bug me about it. If you call me during the week I can point you to the routine without having to disassemble the whole program. (not that I disapprove, but I'm embarassed to have too many people see how I code!) (rowlfe) oops.... phone number? (Ed G.) Rowlfe ... 1-617-658-5550 (Maddi) So it will appear in this CO's DL file, could you give us your company's address? (Ed G.) Acroatix Inc/ P.O. Box 273 OR 10 Upton Dr / Wilmington, MA 01887. (JOE BARK) When Powr-disk due for 200? (Ed G.) Sorry, I WILL not announce anything until the software is finished. In this case, since the manual is already done, that means we ship as soon as we announce. (Sysop .^Dave^.) Quickee for you tana. Since the POWR-DISK is useless without a Tandy portable disk drive can you confirm PICO magazine's message to the effect that Ed Juge says no more drives until late spring?? Due slow shipping? (tana) Actually, pico verified what i had said on the sig a week or so ago. we moved up shipments and are filling backorders. The next shipment is due in April (mid). Call that late spring if you want to. If possible, it may be moved up. Does take time on a ship. (<@GRAY@>) Is the TMPC under development for 200 near completion? (Ed G.) If I ever said that it was in development, I must have been referring to functional specs. TMPC depends heavily on the M100's screen at the DESIGN level, so that a 200 version has to be thought out almost from scratch before coding can even begin. I'll be frank. Although TMPC is very well received by those who have bought it, nearly every buyer is very skeptical, and sales have been disappointing. I have thought about this at length, and although I have some theories, I have no solutions. So, unfortunately, although I love the program personally, we just can't afford to spend any more development time on it right now. (<@GRAY@>) With a real need for a good schedule program and the good things I have heard about TMPC by model 100 owners on the SIG. I was hoping that you would develop one for the Tandy 200. (rowlfe) in my endeavors to find the LPT routines I ran across the places to change the diary file name to something else, mind if I upload the info for others who, as I was, wanted to use something other that "diary.do" as the history file? (Ed G.) My policy is, that as long as you don't upload a copy of TMPC to the SIG, you can do whatever you want in that regard. Shoot, we must have lost more sales by people giving copies to their friends than would ever be lost by some one developing a "free" TMPC from your uploaded info. BTW, since I see that Mike Anders is here, I wanted to bounce a rumor off you. I heard that some one is working on a "RAM ROM" that ... (Sysop .^Dave^.) [Anders gawn] (Ed G.) Aw, shucks. Well I'll finish anyway. This RAM ROM will allow users to copy ROMS into disk et.al., then load them back into the "RAM ROM." This is ostensibly to allow convenient access to more than one ROM, but it sure does a number on the "copy-proof" distribution medium! (rowlfe) heard a while back that there were two versions of tmpc floating around, the first one would cause a cold-start under some obscure condition. any way to tell If I have the newer version? I would NOT want to test it by forcing the bug or whatever to cold start my M100! (Ed G.) There ARE two versions. You can check the numbers in TMPC.BA to tell which; however, dogonnit, I can't remember offhand which numbers go with which version. You can also test a relatively harmless bug which I fixed on the newer version. On the old version, consecutive holidays showed up as "deadlines," but on the new version, you never get a "0 Bdays" warning. I think I will upload a small file on how to tell the difference, and allow people to get a new tape for a very nominal fee if they have an older version. I kept thinking that a good excuse for announcing this was "just around the corner," but I guess the time is now. Watch for my message on details. (Ed G.) Dave, I just want to re-iterate that the PRD file in DL 6 for POWR-DISK does not mention the relocator, but there IS one included with the product. It really makes the difference between a "nice utility" and a real work-saver out of POWR-DISK. (rowlfe) does it only work with POWR, or will it relocate other ML as well? (Ed G.) The program itself is a general-purpose relocator, but it needs a DO file specific to the machine-language program to be relocated. That, in general can only come from the manufacturer of the sofware. We did develop a utility to make the DO file from two different copies of any CO file running from two different locations. But, unfortunately, a relocator for general programs is impossible. (rowlfe) any word for us that have tmpc about other utilities such as CALC shown in the book? (where the screen now says NONE)? (Ed G.) I wrote the manual, and put the CALC in the box; at the time, I had some vague notion of more software that could use a floor-plan interface. However, two things happened: TMPC grew larger than I really wanted, and sales proved pretty slow. I guess I'm a naive businessman, and expected that people would line up to buy it if it were top-flight. Well, many compliments and few sales later, I've had to reconsider plans to work on it more. Not to say that the M100 market is no good, just that it may be tough to get people to pay for mail-order time-management software. Did I answer your question somewhere in that rambling dissertation? (rowlfe) sort of, I get it that there are no other programs presently being worked on. If so, is there a way I might be able to use that section to add my own, in one form or another? (Ed G.) Sure! It's not That difficult to use it. In fact, I could give you the format for the screen-draw generator table, and you could even make up your own screens. It is a pretty facile interface from a programming point of view. (rowlfe) I would be interested in trying something like that. it irks me somewhat to have a deadend there. (Ed G.) You and me, too. Give me a call some time during bus. hours during the week if possible. That's when I'm most reliably in my office. (Sysop .^Dave^.) Folks; Phil Wheeler will be our Special Guest on 26th to halp with xfer problems betwee bitty compooters and biggee compyouters. (Lan Y.) Where's my POWR-Disk??? (Ed G.) It's in the mail. I put a $3 check in your package to refund the shipping since I missed my promised date. The printers took off quite a few days around Christmas, and I got backordered on diskettes. However, all are in the mail. (Maddi) [Woods got his, AND his $3.00 refund!] (Sysop .^Dave^.) Many thanks for your guesting today Ed .... CO is ended .... All go to Yak-yak mode ... Thanks to all!! [Listeners too.] (Ed G.) Thanks for having me Dave! bye! 1:00:33 PM EST Sunday, January 12, 1986 User ID Nod Handle ----------- --- ------------ 70007,1176 ATJ Thom 70007,2000 QCA Andy R.> 70025,1356 CNC Jim Crabtree 70126,1131 QFI MYKUS 70126,231 BTM EILEEN TARCAY 70136,30 DCI H. Hoffman 70250,211 LTR PETER 70466,1511 BTM Maddi 70506,1261 SIE Sysop Tony 71266,125 LBC Phil W. 71436,323 DCE Bruce Drake 72116,2765 PMA JIM LEWIS 72146,2632 DCE Mike A. 72206,2413 ALL Kevin MacLean 72207,3402 MAD John 72227,2507 NAS GRAY 72237,344 CAP ROMAN KROITOR 72276,3505 ANA john k 72326,3271 HVT Bill S 72407,3224 SYR Marty T 72457,3343 BOU Ed G. (Acroatix Inc.) 72467,331 DCI Lan Y. 72507,1063 QKA Mark H 72517,1077 CAP doug m 72527,1246 LEX Joe B! 72667,445 NAS DAVID ROGERS 72737,2662 HAM Bill Chan 72737,3431 RAL BOB R 72746,1014 OKC John R 72747,2241 DCE Matt S. 73176,1625 QCA RossR 73765,605 NYJ larry l 74216,73 PLS Jerry Tappa 74405,1177 SDC rowlfe 74766,3553 QAI Randy Kays 75655,646 POR STEVE CROUCH 75715,100 ATJ RICH L 75725,1130 CVK Curtis G. 75725,1134 LSM joel 75725,1204 CVK DAVE SCHNEIDER 76012,1364 MLW Marc Hanlan 76576,2177 SDE WAYNE E. HAVILAND 76576,611 CVK RON BAXTER 76703,2041 FTW tana 76703,446 BMD Sysop .^Dave^.