FidoNews · Vol 2, No 31 · 16 September 1985
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:05 Page 1
Volume 2, Number 31 16 September 1985
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| / \ |
| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
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| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
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Publisher: Fido 107/7
Chief Procrastinator: Thom Henderson
Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 107/7. You
are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
Fidonews. Article submission standards are contained in the
file FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 107/7.
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Curious Products
A friend of mine called me up the other day. He was quite
irate about an ad he had just read, and he wanted to vent
his feelings.
It seems a company has come out with a "black book" program,
for organizing telephone numbers and addresses. You enter
in all your data, and it will pull out selected names and
print them on standard printer paper. Cut along the lines,
fold, and viola! A little black book.
A cute idea. Neat, handy, convenient. In fact, so handy
that I have one in my wallet right now.
You see, what made him irate is that he and I have had our
own programs to do exactly that for about eight years now.
My earliest version was written in BASIC on a Honeywell
mainframe running DTSS operating system. His originally ran
on a SWTPC micro in his bedroom and printed using his
Decwriter terminal. I'm not sure about the exact history of
his version, but mine has been adapted to run on a New
England Digital minicomputer (in XPL), and finally on an
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:08 Page 2
IBM-PC (in C).
He heats up on this topic fairly regularly, and for good
reason, I guess. I remember a few years back we had
brainstormed an idea we thought rather highly of. We'd been
in the group that got real-time conferences going on the
Dartmouth College mainframe, and it took off like a house
afire. When the college computer was linked into Telenet,
we hit on the idea of renting mainframe time and selling it
to people accross the country so they could join the
conferences. We finally scrapped the whole idea because we
figured that nobody in their right mind would pay the six
bucks an hour it would cost us for Telenet charges and
mainframe time, much less enough extra to give us a profit.
After all, we only did it because we got the time for free.
It was only a year or two later that Compuserve went into
business. How could we have known that so many people are
not in their right minds?
I guess the moral (if there is any) is that it's not enough
to have a good idea, you also have to market it. I tend to
look down a bit on salesmen -- probably as a result of
having worked for a company that was run by a soi disant
"super salesman" -- but give the devil his due. My father
always used to say, "If you want something done right, hire
an expert." Nobody can be good at everything, and I don't
kid myself that I'm good at marketing.
The problem, of course, is to find a marketeer that will
handle your product. Most people don't want to talk to you
until you've proven yourself. You do this by bringing out a
successful product. This is known as a classic "Chicken and
egg dilemma".
Someone once suggested to me that a possible answer might be
to form some sort of marketing co-op. I confess that I have
no idea how such a thing would work, or even how to go about
setting one up. My own pet idea is to convince some large
company -- probably a publishing house -- to try publishing
software the same way they now publish books. Basically,
you would send your program off to a publisher, who then
takes a look at it. Possibly you get some editorial
feedback, and change it a bit. Then, if they like it, they
give you an advance against royalties and start publishing
it. If the royalties ever exceed the advance, you start
getting income.
The current situation is in flux. Everybody seems to do it
differently, and it's not yet clear what will constitute
"normal channels" a few years from now. The only trend I
can make out is towards the "big company" approach, which I
find personally distasteful. It may be all well and good
for Lotus and Aston Tate, but it leaves no room for the
little guy.
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:10 Page 3
============================================================
NEWS
============================================================
=================================
ZAXXON: A TALE OF TROJAN FREEWARE
Tom Neff [76566,2536]
=================================
1. INTRODUCTION
Most Sysops I know are careful to avoid carrying pirated
commercial software in their download data libraries, and
many post loud warnings about it to all concerned. It's
usually obvious to the casual user when a program is not
intended for free distribution, because commercial programs
customarily display a copyright page on startup. Even
"silent" programs (like some utilities) often carry embedded
copyright information in the program code itself, so that an
inquisitive Sysop can identify the program's origin and
status by "dumping" it.
However, an unwelcome phenomenon has arisen recently: copies
of commercial programs are "hacked" to remove all copyright
and/or authorship notices, then passed around as public
domain. One example of this is the late, unlamented PSHIFT,
which was apparently a pre-production beta version of
Northeastern Systems' MEMORY SHIFT package -- the legend as
passed down to me is that a disgruntled ex-employee took a
copy with him, patched it to read "Public Domain" and handed
it out. Others seem to include the games STARGATE and
ZAXXON. I want to show you what I am talking about, using
ZAXXON as an example.
2. ZAXXON IS AN EXAMPLE
Now ZAXXON is the arcade game where you have a little
warplane that you fly over a brick wall and thru a gauntlet
of missiles, blimps, guns, lasers, and what have you. The
full-scale coin-op version is owned and copyrighted by Sega,
a big video games company. The IBM PC version is a 20K file
called ZAXXON.COM, which surfaced a year or more ago. When
you fire it up, it clears the screen and displays the
legend:
Z A X X O N
Public Domain by: Sega
I have Chatted or exchanged messages with several Sysops who
tell me that no matter what others may say, I must be
mistaken when I warn them about ZAXXON, because it's clearly
marked Public Domain -- end of discussion! There are three
good reasons why they're wrong:
* Sega is not in the freeware business. This ought to be
self evident. It's like seeing an entire shipment of
Epson printers with "FREE SAMPLE" stickers on them, and
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:12 Page 4
believing it.
* Ever seen a REAL freeware game? There are enough of
them out there: FLIGHTMARE, QIX, BERTSNAK, CASTLE,
etcetera. They do NOT simply say "Public Domain" once
on the title page. Instead, they typically display the
author's name and address, together with distribution
policy, "hope you enjoy it," and sometimes a request
for a contribution. Again, at the bare minimum, the
program code itself will contain embedded text with the
author's name. Compared to this standard, ZAXXON is
like a .38 Special with the serial numbers filed off --
real suspicious.
* This file has been hacked, crudely and obviously. A
commercial copyright message, for Sega or whomever, was
blanked out in at least two places, and innocuous
messages were substituted in their place.
3. HACKER'S TOUR OF WHAT WAS DONE TO ZAXXON
Let me bore you with a page of hex dump for a moment by way
of illustration. This excerpt from ZAXXON.COM includes some
of the text of the games's user messages, including the
strings used on the title and GAME OVER pages:
80 26 00 00 DF 80 0E 00 00 40 E9 71 FA 3C 6A 74 &.._...@iqz<jt
04 3C 4A 75 DE 80 0E 00 00 40 E9 61 FA 03 04 0C .<Ju^...@iaz...
4F 6E 6C 79 20 4B 65 79 62 6F 61 72 64 20 43 6F Only Keyboard Co
6E 74 72 6F 6C 20 41 76 61 69 6C 61 62 6C 65 00 ntrol Available.
03 0A 0E 4A 6F 79 73 74 69 63 6B 20 4E 6F 74 20 ...Joystick Not
41 74 74 61 63 68 65 64 00 FF 03 0B 0C 4B 65 79 Attached....Key
62 6F 61 72 64 20 43 6F 6E 74 72 6F 6C 3D 4B 00 board Control=K.
03 0B 0E 4A 6F 79 73 74 69 63 6B 20 43 6F 6E 74 ...Joystick Cont
72 6F 6C 3D 4A 00 FF 03 05 16 31 55 50 00 03 1B rol=J....1UP...
16 32 55 50 00 03 05 17 54 4F 50 00 03 18 17 45 .2UP....TOP....E
4E 45 4D 59 20 50 4C 41 4E 45 53 00 02 05 18 46 NEMY PLANES....F
55 45 4C 20 20 20 45 00 02 1C 18 46 00 01 03 07 UEL E....F....
48 00 01 03 0E 4C 00 FF 03 10 0C 5A 20 41 20 58 H....L....Z A X
20 58 20 4F 20 4E 00 02 07 0E 20 20 20 50 75 62 X O N.... Pub
6C 69 63 20 44 6F 6D 61 69 6E 20 42 79 3A 20 53 lic Domain By: S
65 67 61 20 20 20 00 FF 03 11 0C 45 6E 74 65 72 ega ....Enter
00 03 0D 0E 31 20 6F 72 20 32 20 50 6C 61 79 65 ....1 or 2 Playe
72 73 00 FF 50 6C 61 79 65 72 20 31 20 59 6F 75 rs.Player 1 You
72 20 54 75 72 6E 00 50 6C 61 79 65 72 20 32 20 r Turn.Player 2
59 6F 75 72 20 54 75 72 6E 00 03 10 0E 20 20 20 Your Turn....
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 03 10 0F 20 47 41 4D .... GAM
45 20 4F 56 45 52 20 00 03 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 E OVER ....
20 20 20 20 20 20 00 FF E8 8E FD 2E 8B 5F 04 8A .h}._.
47 02 8B 2F 8B D5 81 C5 5E 07 2E FF 66 00 6B 09 G./UE^..f.k.
OK, now what have we got here? Take a look at the
"Keyboard" and "Joystick" messages around 700-760 for a
whole slew of examples of how this program stores its
strings.
03 0A 0E 4A 6F 79 73 74 69 63 6B 20 4E 6F 74 20 ...Joystick Not
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:15 Page 5
41 74 74 61 63 68 65 64 00 Attached.
As near as we can figure out, this structure is Color, Row,
Column, then ASCII text, 00 terminated. Notice there are no
leading or trailing blanks; the cursor positioning embedded
in the message makes that unnecessary. Go ahead and look at
some of the others; they all pretty much follow that format,
except for the "Player 1/2 Your Turn" messages at 7F0-800,
which are 00 terminated but have no leading color or cursor
information. But let's look at our "Public Domain" string:
02 07 0E 20 20 20 50 75 62 X O N.... Pub
6C 69 63 20 44 6F 6D 61 69 6E 20 42 79 3A 20 53 lic Domain By: S
65 67 61 20 20 20 00 ega .
Well, well, well, what have we here?! Normal cursor
positioning, then BLANK BLANK BLANK Public Domain by: Sega
BLANK BLANK BLANK!
4. LEGENDARY PERSONS REACT
MR. SPOCK (raising an eyebrow):
Fascinating.
HOLMES (laying down his violin and needle):
You see, Watson? Elementary!
MAN FROM BOLTON (shaking cage at Pet Shop owner):
This parrot is NAILED TO THE PERCH!
(End of dramatic interlude)
5. LAST LEG OF HACKER'S TOUR
If you want to believe that there WASN'T a "Copyright 1984,
by Sega Inc." message (or something close to it) in those 28
bytes before someone centered a 22-byte "Public Domain"
string in the same place, leaving 6 excess blanks, then I
have got some great Florida swamp land I'd like to sell you!
There's what looks like more of the same thing on the end-
of-game screen:
03 10 0E 20 20 20 ...
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 03 10 0F 20 47 41 4D .... GAM
45 20 4F 56 45 52 20 00 03 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 E OVER ....
20 20 20 20 20 20 00 .
Here we have a GAME OVER message with one blank on either
side, hmmmm; but my favorite is the next message: ALL
BLANKS. Nice one! Anyway, enough on this example. I
wanted to give you an idea of what to look for --unexpected
stretches of blanks is a dead giveaway.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND PEP TALK
What can we learn from this? As far as I am concerned, the
burden of proof of a program's PD status rests squarely on
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:17 Page 6
the author, the program itself, and the uploader. Here are
some general recommendations:
* If you write freeware, shareware, or PDware, authors,
proclaim it loud and clear in the program itself --
don't rely on external documentation to explain how you
want your program distributed!
* BBS users and Sysops, if you see any program,
especially a game, that is clearly of professional
quality, MAKE SURE that an author's name and address or
similar convincing pedigree is present in the program
itself. DO NOT be fooled by a one-line "Public Domain"
message or a completely blank startup. If a program is
meant to be shared, it will SAY SO explicitly.
* Sysops, help keep your users informed of known
commercial ripoffs. There is about one new one a month
at present. If you have a big upload-download BBS,
post a Bulletin saying you won't accept non-PD uploads,
and list the current Dirty Dozen: STARGATE, AXX,
ZAXXON, PSHIFT, and so forth. One convenient way to do
this (on RBBS-PC systems) is to create bogus entries in
your upload DIR99 as follows:
ZAXXON COM DELETED ONLY PD SOFTWARE PLEASE!
STARGATE COM DELETED ONLY PD SOFTWARE PLEASE!
PSHIFT LBR DELETED ONLY PD SOFTWARE PLEASE!
* Users, don't be shy about notifying the local Sysop
when you spot a ripped-off file on his or her BBS.
News takes a while to get around, and most Sysops will
be only too relieved to get the warning, since they are
the ones at risk when they carry stolen software.
I don't have to tell you how important it is that we keep
our risks to a minimum right now, with the legal storms
brewing in Washington and the various States. The only way
to keep our BBS freedoms alive is to cooperate in protecting
them, and that means staying on guard against the abuses of
the irresponsible minority whose abuses grab the headlines,
taunt the lawyers and police, and threaten to stampede the
legislators. Let's keep our act together -- PD SOFTWARE
ONLY PLEASE! TMN
------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:19 Page 7
A CONTEST.........Fido #519 on Net #102
Hello Everyone! My name is Darlene Faccone and I'm one of
the new Fidos in Southern California. I've been having
trouble thinking of a name for my node so..........I'M
HAVING A CONTEST!!
The temporary name I'm using is NAME_MY_NODE. I will be
accepting name suggestions until 9/30/85 when a real name
will be chosen. The author of the selected name will win a
SURPRISE so, please include a mailing address with your
suggestion.
My BBS doesn't have a single theme yet but I'm leaning
toward an informational type system where people can ask
questions relating to the IBM PC family and peripherals. My
system is running on an IBM PC/AT with 512K RAM, 20mB disk
drive, color display and Hayes 1200B internal smartmodem.
I am a reformed mainframer with 19 years applications and
systems programming experience. My skills are mostly
software related but I'm always extremely interested in
learning new things all the time.
I'll be upgrading memory soon to a megabyte so that I can
run Multi-link or some other comparable multitasking
software which will allow me to keep Fido on-line all the
time but still use the system for other things.
I'm VERY excited about being a part of Fido. Everyone has
been extremely helpful and supportive.
DON'T FORGET TO SEND ME A NAME SUGGESTION!!!! I'LL BE
WATCHING FOR SOME REALLY CLEVER WITTY NAMES.
------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:20 Page 8
GOOD NEWS! THE FIRST COMPUTER PRIVACY ACT!
>>>> Ported from The Meta Network via UNISON by Lisa Carlson
Senator Leahy to propose Electronic Communications Privacy Act
This afternoon, at the first annual meeting of the
Electronic MAIL Association, Senator Patrick J. Leahy
(Democrat-Vermont) announced his intention to introduce the
Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1985. When the
Senate reconvenes, similar legislation will be introduced in
the House. In his address, Senator Leahy focused on the
complex public policy problems which have emerged with the
increase of computer-based communications.
Policy is now needed to protect the privacy and security of
communication exchanged via new technologies, so that
citizens may feel as secure using newer communications media
as they do in using the mail services or the telephone. At
present, the Federal legislation enacted in 1968 on the
illegality of wire-tapping is the only act which might apply
to privacy of communication issues. That legislation
designed to protect voice communication via common carrier
is no longer adequate, as protection is extended only to
communication "capable of being heard." According to the
Senator, current federal policy needs to protect "WHAT is
being transmitted, not the WAY it is transmitted."
The Senator, Vice-Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on
Policy, is committed to the protection of private
communication from any source, be it government itself or a
private, undetected perhaps, intruder in a database.
The to-be-proposed Electronic Communication Privacy Act of
1985 will make five important changes to the "wire tap
laws." As outlined, these changes will:
- extend coverage from "voice" to all electronic
transmission
- recognize private carriers, so that all communications
systems will be covered, not just common carriers as at
present.
- institute civil and criminal penalties for illegal access.
- institute civil penalties for disclosure of private
information stored on any system.
- for law enforcement, require that a court order be
obtained before accessing information stored on private
communications systems.
------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:22 Page 10
Note on overseas FIDO operation.
After reading the article on international FIDO net
operations, I am reminded of an article in an ICCA
newsletter. I do not remember all of the details but..
There is a lot of concern these days about export of
technology. Some laws are quite clear, such as:
NO EXPORT OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE WITHOUT A PERMIT!
The article said that this included a Lotus 1-2-3 disk in
your breifcase on the plane. I would assume that file
transfers overseas would also be included. The permit would
be obtained from the US Dept of Commerce, the details of
which I have no idea.
If anyone knows the whole story, please let us know.
Andrew Foray, 107/7
------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:23 Page 11
This was excerpted from DIGITAL REVIEW, August 1985 issue.
OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE
by Vin McLellan
FidoNet, a grass roots telecommunications network, has
finally come into its own.
Among PC users with all brands of machines, "FidoNet"
is probably perceived as the Rainbow's biggest contribution
to the telecommunications subculture. Ironically, only in
the last few months, as FidoNet caught the attention and
imagination of others, have DEC and Digital Equipment
Computer Users Society (DECUS) begun to acknowledge and take
advantage of this extraordinary creation, a global network
of intercommunicating bulletin boards that is in large part
the creation of the Rainbow user community.
FidoNet evolved in 1984, duting a period when DEC's
interest in the Rainbow began to fade. One can almost taste
this "despite them" attitude among the FidoNet volunteer
managers. The administrative node of FidoNet in St. Louis is
called DECUS CENTRAL, and the key regional network managers
and about one third of the 250 PC-based nodes that feed into
the network are Rainbow installations, but FidoNet developed
with an insurgent mentality. What FidoNet got from DEC was
largely given by individuals: Key engineers in the Rainbow
group made available design data that corporate spokesmen
had refused to reveal, DEC regional sales offices in four or
five cities gave Rainbows to their DECUS PC local user
groups (LUGs) so they could put up Fido boards, and
individual DEC employees called up to offer services,
software, advice, and applause -- but cautioned that they
weren't to be mentioned.
Perhaps it is only fitting now, as DEC moves to
reinvigorate its microcomputer line, do both DEC and DECUS
seem on the verge of openly acknowledging the contribution
of FidoNet to the spirit of the DEC community. Last year,
FidoNet couldn't get a slot on the DECUS conference calendar
in Anaheim -- despite the fact that half the DECUS PC LUGs
run Fidos; FidoNet's spokesmen were tossed into a "birds of
a feather" session that was mobbed by an overflow crowd.
This year -- just as Fido version 10l was being distributed
to the estimated 900-odd Fido bulletin board system
operators (SysOps) -- Fido had a scheduled symposium at the
New Orleans DECUS convention at which it was announced that
the new version of the free Fido software will break the
software barrier that had previously put a ceiling of 250
nodes on mail-exchanging FidoNets. As the Fido bulletin
boards convert to version 10l over the summer, hundreds of
new nodes will be added.
What is Fido? Fido is, first of all, a public domain,
micro-based bulletin board system that runs on the Rainbow,
IBM PC and compatibles, the Sanyo 555, the Victor 9000,
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:25 Page 12
Otrona Attaches, and Tandy 2000s. Fido was written by Tom
Jennings of San Francisco, a systems programmer for Phoenix
Software in Boston, the craftsman hired by Microsoft to
rewrite MS-DOS for the Rainbow (a project originally
undertaken against the wishes of DEC). Although its user
interface is somewhat more awkward than those of other
bulletin boards, the Fido bulletin board's ingenious
networking capability has made it the most widely used
bulletin board system in the country.
For one hour every night, the Fido bulletin boards
automatically close down and switch into FidoNet mode: Mail
that has been submitted for transmission is packaged with
proper headers (according to FidoNet's U.S. region or
overseas district and the receiving bulletin board) and
transmitted via very brief long distance phone calls. Fido's
cost per message (which obviously drops precipitously as the
number of messages packed into a single transmission
increases) is largely dictated by AT&T's minimum one minute
charge. Most of the 250 Fidos active in the public Fido
network use Fido's internal accounting system to maintain
user credit files and bill about 25 cents for a cross-
country message of some 45 lines. Although the feature is
used primarily by sysops, FidoNet also allows files to be
attached to a message -- for transmitting spreadsheets,
software or whatever.
This is enormous functionality from free software, and
both the product and its price have found widespread favor
in both the hobbiest world and the corporate universe. DEC
employee Dave Rene, sysop of both Fido 27 in Gardner and a
restricted Fido (310) at DEC's Rainbow graphics dvelopment
group in Westminster, Massachusetts, says that Fido 27
distributes four complete Fido software packages *daily*.
"What they're all doing with them is beyond me," laughs
Fido 44 sysop Dave Mitton, secretary of the New England
Computer Society and a project leader in DEC's NetWork and
Communications Group. According to Ken Kaplan, chairman of
the St. Louis DECUS PC group, perhaps half the 250 networked
nodes are based in commercial stores, radio stations or
corporations. He guesses there are roughly 600 to 700 nodes
in private company networks. Kaplan is one of the key
figures behind Fido's spread among DECUS Rainbow LUGs; he's
a VP of Digital Research Associates, an authorized dealer of
VAX and Rainbow systems for libraries, and one of the
leading DECUS CENTRAL volunteer admnistrators that manage
FidoNet. "It was a hobby that just went wild," he explains
sheepishly.
"As the head of U.S. Robotics told me yesterday," says
Kaplan, "there ain't anybody out there who has anything that
can match it right now." For micro-based electronic mail, he
says Fido is "obviously the standard bearer" -- but more to
the point, he says, FidoNet's cost-effectiveness puts to
shame much larger, more expensive, better publicized E-mail
systems.
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:28 Page 13
Still, free software has a price. Jennings says that
the current version (10l) will be his last. Although
Jennings has never made the source code public, he says he
is actively encouraging others to write Fido clones. "I
can't be the only author of public domain electronic mail,"
protests the 29-year old programmer. "It's crazy! When there
are 250 or 300 nodes, and I'm the only person maintaining
them...I can't continue forever and ever!" Jennings
describes himself as a "burn-out" victim -- but he and
others associated with FidoNet administration have also been
talking about foundation support that might allow them to
continue without carrying a full workload in addition to
their career jobs. Volunteerism has its limits; the limits
are often a matter of time rather than energy or interest.
------------------------
Ian Schirado, Thieve's World SysOp
616-343-0996
24 hours except when in use (like when I'm playing HACK or DND!)
Non-Net Fido 11/-1
------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:29 Page 14
Interesting Things From the World of USENET
by
Bob Hartman
Sysop Fido 101/101
The UN*X Gateway
and
Home of ROVER
Since my board is the UN*X Gateway node for Fido, I
thought that I would share some of the wonderful things that
have been posted as USENET articles recently. Anyone who
thinks that my USENET link is not terribly useful, may
change their minds after reading further. All of these
little tidbits are taken directly as they were posted to
USENET. I only reformatted the paragraphs to make them
conform to FIDONEWS standards. Note that the first item
seems to exist *ONLY* in MS-DOS V3.x. I tried it on my PC
with PC-DOS 3.0, and it did not work.
----------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: /e switch in MS-DOS V3
I don't recall if this has made the rounds on the net, but
MS-DOS V3.x has an undocumented switch to expand the default
size of the environment. The switch is in config.sys. The
syntax is:
SHELL = drive/pathname_of_command_processor
drive/path_to_command_process /p
/e:number_of_16_byte_paragraphs
The drive/pathname of the command processor and the
drive/pathname to the command processor must be specified.
Also note that omitting the /p switch will cause DOS to
discard the command processor after startup and send your
machine for a trip west. Here is the line I use in my
config.sys file
SHELL = c:\command.com c:\ /p/e:30
Obviously, command.com is located in the root directory of
my hard disk. This sets up a 480 byte space for the
environment.
The number of paragraphs should be 10 < paragraphs < 63. If
less than 11 is specified, it is bumped to 11. If more than
62 is specified, DOS prints a message and sets the
environment space to the default of 128 bytes.
As this feature is undocumented, the caveat about any
undocumented feature applies. It's here in DOS V3.0 & V3.1
(and not in previous versions). It may or may not be in
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:31 Page 15
future versions. Don't go crying to Microsoft if it doesn't
show up in the next release. :-(
--
Chris DeVoney voice: 317/842-7162
Que Corporation uucp: ihnp4!inuxc!que!chris
Indianapolis, IN
----------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Change 10MB Hard Disk cluster from 4K to 2K
2K Cluster Size for 10MB Fixed Disks under DOS 3.x
Standard 10mb fixed disks formatted under DOS 3.0 & 3.1
utilize 4k clusters (i.e., the minimum space allocated to
any file is 4096 bytes), while drives 20mb and larger
utilize 2k clusters. At work, I use a PC with twin 10mb
drives under DOS 3.1. Since I have a multitude of small
files on these disks, the smaller allocation unit's space
saving advantage far outweighs any theoretical disadvantage
of additional overhead for DOS to handle the added
allocation units. With the help of Bob Morse, Jim Gainsley,
and the DOS Technical Reference, I was able to make the
changes necessary to use 2k clusters on both of my 10mb
drives. By following the step-by-step instructions below,
you will be able to make the switch to 2k clusters yourself.
The need for making a complete backup of all your files
prior to attempting this procedure cannot be overephasized.
You will need the following tools:
(1) IBM PC-DOS version 3.1 (3.0 will work, but because of
other bugs, 3.1 is strongly recommended).
(2) A disk utility such as Norton's NU.COM, or equivalent.
Most critical to the process is the sequence in which this
procedure is attempted. Here is the 4k to 2k cluster
procedure:
(1) Do a complete backup of the drive, using your current
version of DOS.
(2) Cold boot DOS 3.1, and FDISK the drive to create a DOS
partition.
(3) Format the drive using the DOS format program. Don't
use any parameters (no /s or /v).
(4) Using your Norton (or whatever), select the boot sector
and view it. See below for an explanation of the pertinent
info in this sector. You should see a value of 08 for
sectors per cluster. change this to 04. You should see a
value of 0800 for sectors per fat. Change this to 1500. All
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:33 Page 16
changes to the fat sectors required for 2k clusters will be
accomplished by the subsequent format (6,below). No other
manual changes are required. A more detailed explanation of
these two changes:
The number of sectors per cluster would change from 08
to 04, since that's what this is all about. The sectors per
FAT will change, in order to accomodate (1) the increased
number of possible FAT entries, and (2) the increased size
of each fat entry (new 16 vs. old 12 bits each). The value
to use for a 10 meg & 2k clusters would be 21 sectors, or
1500 in hex word format.
(5) Exit Norton and do a cold boot. This is critical,
since the boot sector is read by DOS only once, at boot
time, in order to build the BIOS Parameter Block. Having
different info in the boot sector than what's in the memory-
resident BPB will cause exceedingly flaky things to happen,
as you can imagine.
(6) Reformat the drive using the DOS program, using
whatever switches that you desire (/s or /v). Format will
not affect your changes to the boot sector.
(7) Restore your files, remembering to use the new restore
switch (/P) which prompts before restoring system files. If
you restore an old version of COMMAND.COM, make sure to copy
a 3.x version over it afterwards. You should now be
operational again, with 2k clusters.
====================
Example of first few bytes in the Boot Sector displayed in
hex format, after formatting with DOS 3.1, and prior to 2k
cluster size changes:
EB299049 424D2020 332E3100 02080100 020002F3 50F80800
^^ ^^^^
AA BB
After the 2k cluster size changes:
EB299049 424D2020 332E3100 02040100 020002F3 50F81500
^^ ^^^^
AA BB
Where the data elements directly above AA are sectors per
cluster, and above BB are sectors per FAT.
Further info on the entries in the boot sector entries used
to build the BIOS Parameter Block can be found in the DOS
3.x Technical Reference, Page 3-22. Of course, I cannot
warrant that this change will work for all controller/disk
combinations, particularly for controllers and drives which
are not 'XT clones' though it 'should work' for all drives
compatible enough to work under DOS 3.x.
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:35 Page 17
-----------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: Changing the dumb '\' to '/'...
The reason MS-DOS uses '\' as the directory delimiter is
that the slash ('/') is used to indicate SWITCHES in the
command line. MS-DOS (PC-DOS) has a call to change the
SWITCH character to any character you would like (I use a
dash '-' because it is consistant with UNIX conventions).
If you change your SWITCH character, the directory delimeter
will change to the familiar UNIX convention '/'. The
following short program can be entered into DEBUG and saved,
all numbers are specified in HEX.
MOV AX,3700 ; AH=CharOper, AL=Get it
INT 21 ; DOS Command
MOV DL,2D ; DL was 2F (slash), change it to 2D (dash)
MOV AX,3701 ; AH=CharOper, AL=Set it
INT 21 ; DOS Command
INT 3 ; Exit from program
On PC-DOS or MS-DOS 2.x any time DOS specifies pathnames
after this program is run, it will show the slash '/' as the
directory delimeter. On PC-DOS 3.x it will still use the
backslash '\' to display pathnames. On any version of DOS,
one will be able to use the slash character to send a
pathname to DOS. Remember to now use dash '-' to pass flags
to programs. Also, some programs may not check to see what
the current SWITCH character is ( some programmers are
really sloppy :-) and may require the user to specify
pathnames using backslash.
Bob Bruck (hao!allegra!...)|nbires|bob
----------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: "Out of Memory" problems with WordStar install
Organization: MicroPro Int'l Corp., San Rafael, CA
TECH NOTE #42
TO: SALES AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL
FROM: TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SUBJECT: TOO LITTLE MEMORY ERROR MESSAGE
***********************************************************
If you receive the message "Too little memory" when
running Micropro software installation programs please
follow the steps shown below on a back-up copy of your
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:37 Page 18
program.
WINSTALL_RINSTALL_OR_DINSTALL
With DEBUG.COM in drive "A" and WINSTALL.COM, RINSTALL.COM,
OR DINSTALL,COM in drive "B" enter the characters enclosed
in quotes.
A>"DEBUG WINSTALL.COM <cr>"
- "E2D4 <cr>"
"72 <cr>"
- "W <cr>"
- "Q <cr>"
You will be returned to the operating system and will be
ready to run the installation.
For CALCSTAR, STARINDEX and FORMSORT, follow the same DEBUG
procedure at the following locations.
TARINDEX
A>"DEBUG STARINDX.COM <cr>"
-"E375 72 <cr>"
-"E12A 73 <cr>"
-"W <cr>"
-"Q <cr>"
You will be returned to the operating system and will be
ready to run StarIndex.
STYLE section of StarIndex
A>"DEBUG STYLE.COM <cr>"
-"F100 L3 E9 7D 03 <cr>"
-"F480 L4 B8 80 00 A3 <cr>"
-"F484 L5 03 00 E9 7A FC <cr>"
-"W <cr>"
-"Q <cr>"
You will be returned to the operating system and will be
ready to run Style.
CALCSTAR
A>"DEBUG CS.COM <cr>"
-"F100 L4 E8 4D 07 90 <cr>"
-"F850 L4 B8 80 00 A3 <cr>"
-"F854 L4 03 00 8C C8 <cr>"
-"F858 L3 8E D0 C3 <cr>"
-"W <cr>"
-"Q <cr>"
CSDUMP
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:38 Page 19
A>"DEBUG CSDUMP.COM <cr>"
-"F100 L4 E8 3D 06 90 <CR>"
-"F740 L4 B8 50 00 A3 <CR>"
-"F744 L4 03 00 8C C8 <CR>"
-"F748 L3 8E D0 C3 <CR>"
You will be returned to the operating system and will be
ready to run Calcstar.
FORMSORT
Formsort 1.4X will only run on a DOS machine that has
less than 512K of RAM.
However, FORMSORT 1.6 will sort files on machines with
512K or more. To update to version 1.6 call the
customer update department at (800) 227-5609.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Like I said in the intro to these tidbits, this is just a
sampling of what has recently come from USENET to my Fido
BBS. Hope some of you find the above information useful.
Bob Hartman
Sysop 101/101
UN*X Gateway
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:39 Page 20
============================================================
FOR SALE
============================================================
__________________________________________________________
F O R S A L E REAL C H E A P
USED IBM COMPUTERS, SUSPECTED OF MINOR MALFUNCTIONS (BUT
DON'T TELL ORIGIONAL PURCHASER)
IF INTERESTED CONTACT NASA SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, FLORIDA
SHUTTLE PROJECT.
BE SURE AND DON'T MENTION TO OMB WASHINGTON, DC.
----------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS -- 16 Sep 85 00:02:40 Page 21
============================================================
NOTICES
============================================================
NOTICE
******
As of September 16, the phone number for node 109/603
the NET_EXCHANGE in Washington DC will be changing to
703 - 689 - 3561. PC PURSUIT users can still access
the board through "WASH DC" at 689 - 3561. There will
be call forwarding on the old number until most of the
users begin using the new - the sooner you do, the
sooner you won't have to put up the line noise through
the PBX!
Dave Purks
Sysop 109/603
------------------------------------------------------------
The Interrupt Stack
28 Sep 1985
SoCal Fido beach party.
27 Nov 1985
Halley's Comet passes closest to Earth before perihelion.
24 Jan 1986
Voyager 2 passes Uranus.
9 Feb 1986
Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
11 Apr 1986
Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
19 May 1986
Steve Lemke's next birthday.
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to Fido 107/7.
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