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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

3298.0. "CrossDos and External Floppy" by LEDS::ACCIARDI () Sun Jan 07 1990 19:08

    
    I picked up the commercial version (rev 3.06A) of CrossDos and a CBM
    1020 5 1/4" floppy this weekend.  I had a hard time finding a genuine
    1020 drive, but Moe at the Software Shop had a few 1020 enclosures and
    we just installed a Chinon 80 track drive.
    
    Everything seems to work very nicely.  The commercial CrossDos has many
    more features that the shareware version (surprise),and can pretty much
    be installed and configured completely from Workbench.  There are
    options and mountlists galore, and I can make the 1020 double as an
    Amiga 880k floppy, since it's an 80 track drive.  The 1020 uses double
    track stepping to write an IBM 40 track (360K) drive, and the manual
    warns that since the 80 track drives have a thinner track width than
    the genuine 40 track drives, reading back MIGHT be difficult on some
    marginal IBM drives.  We'll soon see...
    
    There are many utilities included for checking, formatting and copying
    MS-DOS disks.  All can be run from Workbench.  There is also a text
    filter that adds or subtracts ^Ms and ^Zs if desired.  You can also
    kill the handler and recover all the resources and memory used by the
    MS-DOS volume.
    
    A few nits:  If the external 1020 drive is not powered up, Workbench
    shows icons for DF2:BAD and DF3:BAD.  No big deal, but the icons are
    annoying.  I guess a non-powered external drive messes up the drive buss
    termination?   If the 1020 is powered up but NOT mounted, there are no
    icons shown for DF2: and DF3:
    
    Nit #2:  The 1020 drive enclosure is as big as a truck!  I had a heck
    of a time even finding a place to put it.  If I can find a floppy disk
    bezel for an A2000, the whole lot is going into the 5 1/4" bay.  It
    looks like there's plenty of room for the 1020 daughterboard (which is
    a 2" x 2" affair with about 2 entire chips on it).
    
    The CrossDos documentation is very good, but a bit technical for the
    novice.  There are reference diagrams and a few paragraphs extolling
    the virtues of the Amiga's extremely flexible file system.
    
    I AM having one small problem that someone might understand...
    
    My wife is using ProWrite to do legal documentation.  She generates
    hardcopy from our HP Laserjet, but then also saves a text-only version
    in a seperate directory.  The plan is to convert the text files to
    MS-DOS format on a weekly basis (I'll most likely use Nazcron and a
    script to automate the process) and send a 5 1/4" floppy to the law
    firm for their archival use.
    
    ProWrite offers two options for saving ASCII files:
    
    1) Line feeds after every paragraph
    2) Line feeds after every line
    
    I tried saving files with option (1) and noticed that when loading the
    ASCII file into ED, the line spacing was correct, but the input lines
    were being truncated.
    
    When saving with option (2), the lines are not truncated, but there is
    now a double space between paragraphs instead of a single space.
    
    This isn't a life or death problem, but I think ProWrite may not be
    saving ASCII in the way that Scribble! does.
    
    Ed.
    
    
    
    
    
     
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3298.1Patches availableLEDS::ACCIARDIMon Jan 08 1990 01:2811
    
    In case any CrossDos users are interested, I have some patch files
    that Consultron provided to PLINK to allow all CrossDos users to update
    their disks to all the latest versions.  The patches are freely
    distributable, and will only work on commercial version of CrossDos.
    
    The patches bring the total package up to rev 3.06C.
    
    If there's any interest, I'll upload them.
    
    Ed.
3298.2do it pleaseSALEM::LEIMBERGERMon Jan 08 1990 07:229
    Ed,
    	I'd like to get ahold of the pattch files for crossdos. I have
    used the program with 720k formated 3 1/2 disks,but have had no
    chance to use a 5 1/4 disk.All in all I think that Crossdos is a
    good investment for anyone who has to read,write,or format MsDos
    disks.Just another example of how flexible the amiga can be. People
    seem amazed that you can access the MsDos files, but then they have
    a hard time with compatability within there own product line.
    								bill
3298.3FROCKY::BALZERChristian Balzer DTN:785-1029Mon Jan 08 1990 07:2815
    Re: .0, .1 
    
    The DFx:BAD part with the 1020 is probably due to the fact that
    the drive logic part (the stuff that's on my Take5 schematic) is
    powered by the Amiga and not the drives power supply. As soon as
    warranty runs out, I'd rewire that thing. ;-)
    
    Yup, I'd like to see the CrossDos patches posted. While I don't
    have the commercial version yet, a fellow Software Brewery member
    and other DECies in this region are still at 3.04 or something like
    that...
    
    Regards,
    
    <CB>
3298.4Watch this spaceLEDS::ACCIARDIMon Jan 08 1990 11:288
    
    OK, I'll upload them tonight.
    
    Ed.
    
    
    
    
3298.5ULTRA::KINDELBill Kindel @ BXB1Mon Jan 08 1990 13:2821
    Re <<< Note 3298.0 by LEDS::ACCIARDI >>>
    
>   ProWrite offers two options for saving ASCII files:
>   
>   1) Line feeds after every paragraph
>   2) Line feeds after every line
>   
>   I tried saving files with option (1) and noticed that when loading the
>   ASCII file into ED, the line spacing was correct, but the input lines
>   were being truncated.
    
    ED is probably doing the truncation -- not ProWrite.  This is the
    option you'd use if you were sending the text to a desktop publishing
    program or something else smart enough to do its own line wrapping.
    
>   When saving with option (2), the lines are not truncated, but there is
>   now a double space between paragraphs instead of a single space.
    
    Check the "Space Before" switch on the Paragraph menu.  Try turning it
    OFF before printing (I think it's "ON" in the profile that's shipped
    with the product).
3298.6LEDS::ACCIARDIMon Jan 08 1990 13:318
    
    Thanks Bill, I hadn't thought of the 'SPACE BEFORE' option... I'll try
    that tonight.
    
    I believe that MS-DOS systems need a hard carriage return to denote
    line length, whereas the Amiga simply uses a linefeed.
    
    Ed.
3298.7CANAM::SULLIVANSteven E. SullivanMon Jan 08 1990 13:3526
RE: .3

Christian,

Are you sure about this? I have implemented the circuit and it seems that
having it unpowered, but connected to the bus will cause the same problem
Ed is seeing. The unpowered logic pulls the _RDY line low which makes the 
config logic see all 1's when it is looking for drives. This makes the Amiga
think all drives areit 880K 3.5". Of course, when powered up the right thing
happens and drives are properly configured.

I think an appropriate fix would be to have a DPST switch to replace the
existing power switch. The power wiring is left as an exersise to the noter,
but remember - power is only on 1 pole. 

The other pole is for the _RDY line. It connects to one contact. The same 
contact connects to the pass-through connector. The other contact of that 
pole connects to the _RDY line for the circuit board. This way the _rdy 
line is disconnected from the drive logic when the drive is powered off.

This could also cause problems for other lines that would be driven by the 
floppy logic via open collector (e.g. Data out) though I think all works well
with just the _RDY line switched.

	Thanks,
		-SES
3298.8Updates are here...LEDS::ACCIARDITue Jan 09 1990 03:4619
    
    The CrossDos updates are now available at TAPE""::USER2:[UPLOAD]
    
    CDP306C.lzh contains the patches to the mfm.device and the
    MSDOSFileSystem.
    
    CDU306C.lzh contains new versions of the utilities programs.
      ^
      |
      |
       -- note the difference!
    
    
    I really appreciate the idea of electronic updates, and told the
    publisher so when I filled out the registration card.  If you DO buy
    CrossDos (or any software, for that matter) always try to nudge them
    with a little positive feedback when they do nice things like this.
    
    Ed.
3298.9Nice try, though...LEDS::ACCIARDITue Jan 09 1990 03:5210
    
    .5> Check the "Space Before" switch on the Paragraph menu.  Try turning it
    .5> OFF before printing (I think it's "ON" in the profile that's shipped
    
    I tried this option, but all this switch does is insert a linefeed
    every time the RETURN key is pressed.  This saves the typist from
    having to hit RETURN twice after every paragraph.
    
    Ed.
    
3298.10nice workEEMELI::HEISKANENmaasta se pienikin ponnistaaWed Jan 17 1990 18:2116
A couple of words because of the great service I got from Consultron.

- they send the mail in first class air mail. That makes a big
  difference compared to the habbit that some other companies seem
  to have ( actually the difference is 2 weeks )
- I have phoned them once to get help in using CrossDos. They
  did fix my problem.
- and the biggest surprise was today. I received an  update (v3.07).
  From the letter I can see that reason for sending this update had
  been my registration card. I put there that I have problems with
  TDPATCH . And the guys send me an update !!! That is great!
  And I suppose the potential market up here is not so huge.

pekka

3298.11DICKNS::MACDONALDWA1OMM 7.093/145.05/223.58 AX.25Thu Jan 18 1990 19:209
< Note 3298.10 by EEMELI::HEISKANEN "maasta se pienikin ponnistaa" >
                                 -< nice work >-

> and the biggest surprise was today. I received an  update (v3.07).

They are pretty good about support. They post patches on all the major
BBS's. Guess we'll see 3.07 soon. V3.06 was posted a couple weeks ago.

Now, if they could only read 1.44 Mbyte floppies.
3298.12It's the Lady, not the product...FROCKY::BALZERChristian Balzer DTN:785-1029Fri Jan 19 1990 10:2015
    Re: .11
    
    Well, I sure hope that the "1.44MB" remark was an ironic/humorous
    remark, Paul. Otherwise I'd be in the unfriendly role of "educating"
    my fellow DEC Amiga owners again. ;-)
    
    FYI, the reason that the current Amiga generation can't read high
    density floppies lies in the Agnus. It's in the (more or less) fat
    Lady, where the decoding takes place and it just can't handle this
    format. 
    Maybe a future machine or Agnus will be able to do so.
    
    Regards,
    
    <CB>
3298.13NAC::BRANNONvalue addedWed Feb 14 1990 21:408
    re .11:
    Its been a while, has 3.07 shown up on the major BBS's?
    
    I sent in my registration card for CrossDos long ago and have yet to
    hear anything from them (update or otherwise).
    
    regards,
    dennis
3298.14I got mineSAUTER::SAUTERJohn SauterThu Feb 15 1990 13:336
    I got a note from them asking me to return my original floppy for
    updating.  I got it back yesterday, in the same mailer that I sent
    them, with Y3.7 or something like that written on it.  The new version
    recommends that you run the TDpatch even if you have more than one
    drive, so I now do.
        John Sauter