Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Did you un-arc the file?  Almost all files here are stored as
    compressed archives; to uncompress them, they must be run through
    the archiving program again.  
    
    If you are unfamiliar with this procedure, let me know and I'll
    post the latest Archiver here, along with instructions on how to
    use it.

                   

    
    
    Did you select the serial port in the printer preferences ??
    
    
    

    I  did select the serial port and no I did  not un-arc the file.
     Would appreciate info into how to un-arc a file.
    
    Thanks

    Just a j-random debugging suggestion:
    
    Since a properly written driver/handler/library will have a MOVEQ.L
    #0,D0, RTS sequence as the "executable starting address", most of
    them can be safely run from a CLI prompt without killing anything.
    
    While this by itself isn't terribly useful, doing so will tell you
    whether or not the hunk format is valid.  So, if you download
    "foo.device", you can try:
    
    1>foo.device
    
    If it immediately responds with "invalid object file format" or
    whatever the error is, you know that you can forget about doing
    any further (and more intricate) testing, because you know right
    away that you didn't get a valid hunk file downloaded.  If the system
    just reprompts, you can go on with your debugging.  If the system
    doesn't give you an error, but does crash, it may well be due to
    the driver not having the aforementioned sequence at the beginning.
    At least if it read the disk for a while before it crashed, you
    can probably assume that the hunk file format is intact.
    
    This isn't the best technique in the world, but at least it does
    give you one thing to test, before you go into "head scratching"
    mode later on, when the system doesn't tell you why it's not doing
    what you expect it to.

    Re: .3
    
    Ah, I thought that might be it... There seem to be a lot of catch-22s
    involved in telecommunications.  How do I download my first terminal
    program?  What is 'FixOBJ' and 'ARC', how do I un-ARC my first ARC
    before I even have ARC :^)
    
    ARC is a neat program that was first used in the Pee Cee world.
    It was written by Raymond S. Brand for use with FIDO BBSs.  It has
    been adapted to the Amiga and Atari ST.
    
    What ARC does is take a number of seperate files and join them
    together, compressing them at the same time.  So, if I wanted to
    up/down load a group of files, like FILEA FILEB FILEC FILED etc,
    I would construct an archive by typing ...
    
    	ARC a (archivename) FILEA FILEB FILEC ....
    
    This is advantageous since I now upload ONE file, rather than n
    files.
    
    To un-arc this archive, I would invoke arc using a different qualifier;
    
    	ARC e (for extract) (archivename)
    
    There are lots of optional qualifiers for ARC.. 
    	
    	l= list files in archive
    	v= verify integrity of archive
    	a= add files to, or create an archive
    	d= delete files from archive
    
    There are lots more that I dont remember offhand.  to get instructions
    on how to use ARC, just type 'ARC' without any qualifiers.  You
    will be presented with a nice list of options and instructions.
    
    Some limitations of ARC:
    
    	The ARC program must reside in the directory that the archive
        is to be created or extracted in.
    
    	All files to be added in the archive must reside in a common
        directory, with the ARC program.  In other words, ARC will not
    	recognize a pathname in the command, not will it work across
        directories.
    
    	You are allowed, even encouraged to de-arc things in RAM:, since
        a large archive will take a while to unpack, and will make your
        floppys do a death rattle.  RAM: works a zillion times faster,
        too.
    
    	Look in JAKE::USER2:[ACCIARDI.MIGA]  for the ARC program.
    	ARC itself does not need to be de-arc'ed or otherwise mucked
        with in order to run, so I'll upload the binary file.  If I
    	am wrong about this (I am almost always wrong about things)
    	let me know, and I'll resort to the old floppy-in-the-mail method
    	of communicating.
    
    	Ed
        	

    I looked in your directory but could not find ar22.bin.  What name
    do you use?

    			-< arc et al >-
    
    re .5
    
    	The arc program does not "have" to be in the directory in which
    you are going to do archives and extracts.  I have found that placing
    the arc program in the c: directory works very nicely (it kinda
    aesthetically fits there too, at least on a disk with com programs
    on it.
    
    	Also, the arc executable does not need to be "fixobj'ed" either,
    apparently someone kludged the executable so that it was exactly
    the right length for stock xmodem programs which don't chop the
    files automatically.
    
    brad

    Whoops, on two counts... right, ARC can be in some other directory.
    I usually build a RAM disk and install ARC right into the root
    directory where it's ready to de-arc any files that I unload.
    
    Also, I forgot to de-protect my VMS directory.  Try again, the file
    is called 'ARC.BIN' but should be renamed just ARC when you get
    it into your Amiga.

    Actually, for those of us with overcrowded SYS: disks, there's
    a hack called UnArc which does just that and nothing more,
    so it can afford to be ~10K long (I think) instead of ~50.
    I'm pretty sure it's on Plink.

    I have downloaded arc.bin.  I used kermit.  First I used file type
    binary then I used file type fixed.  I put arc.bin on an empty disk.
    I then entered CD DF1: next I entered ARC.BIN. I then received the
    following error message.
    
    CAN'T LOAD FILE : INSUFFICIENT STORE
    
    I also tried copying arc.bin to ram but got the same error.
    I've read other notes about people getting the same error but no
    one seemed to have a resolution. *note 406 .
    
    Any one have any ideas?

RE: .10

	You either don't have enough memory, or you're using too much of it.
ARC won't run on a 256K Amiga.  If you have at least 512K, then you are using
too much of it, and freeing up something should do the trick.

Mark

    Anybody else have problems running ARC under SHELL?  (I've had problems
    with all versions I've tried, including ARC 0.23 and SHELL 2.06M.)
    I usually get something like a series of "file not found" messages,
    one for each file in the directory where the .ARC file resides.
    On at least one occasion it's worked, however, so I presume I'm
    just doing something dumb.  In any case, if I quit SHELL and run
    ARC directly under AmigaDOS, I have no problems.
    
    -Larry

    I have 512k of memory.  I used the stack command in various ways:
    STACK 4000 THRU 380000.
    I still have the insufficient store error.  Perhaps the version
    of arc I downloaded requires more memory.  I am going to try and
    find a different version.

    Hmmm.... there's something sinister going onm here.. I tried to
    download the very ARC.BIN that I uploaded, using Xmodem/VT100. 
    I got error code 21, whatever that is.  More significantly, the
    downloaded file was only 49K, and it should have been 63K.
    
    Looks like I made a defective upload.  I'll try it again tonight,
    and if this fails, I'll send you a copy on floppy.
    
    Don't get discouraged; once you have ARC in hand, there is a whole
    new world of goodies out there.
    

    I decided to dearc the la50.arc on the vax.  I then set file type
    binary and downloaded LA50. to the amiga.  I then copied la50. to
    my workbench disk devs/printers/la50.  Once completed I went into
    preferences and chose la50 as the printer option,but when trying
    to print I got nothing.  Then I wnet back into preferences and chose
    custom as the printer option with df0:devs/printers/la50 as the
    custom name.  Still nothing.  I used the notepad and cli when testing
    the printer driver.  When using the cli command type file to prt:
    I got a prt device not found error.  I then went back into preferences
    and set the printer driver to use the brother and everything worked
    fine.  So what am I missing?

    Do you have the serial port properly configured for the LA50?

    re .12
    
    When using Shell & arc or any utility that accepts wildcarding character
    ? or * remember to enclose them in quotes else shell will expand
    the wilcards and pass the resultant number of args to the program.
    
    eg. if you have files in you current directory
    		foo1
    		foo2
    		foo3
    
    	and you do a
    	$ arc x *
    	
        what will actually gets executed is: 'arc x foo1 foo2 foo3'
        when what you really wanted was 'arc x *'
    
    	so just remember the quotes:  $ arc x "*" and you'l have no
        problems.
    
    /Steve

    Well I went to my local amiga dealer to get a copy of the arc utility.
    I then unarced the la50.arc on my amiga and copied it to preferences.
    Guess what, it worked.  I immediately went into deluxe paint and
    tried to print a picture and guess what, it worked.  My amiga dealer
    tried out the arc utility I had and he got the same insufficient
    store error with 1 meg of memory.  Thanks for everyone's assistance.