Msg#: 1529 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/26/86 09:46:18 (Read 85 Times) From: SYSOP To: THOMAS HOLMES (Rcvd) Subj: TERMINAL EMULATION There is a commercial program for the PX that does allow terminal emulation. From Cardinal Software (1600 North I-35E, Ste. 109, Carrolton, TX 75006, 214-446-9650), its the only true terminal emulation package for the PX that I'm aware of. BH Msg#: 1535 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/26/86 12:58:20 (Read 81 Times) From: THOMAS HOLMES To: DAVE HOGAN (Rcvd) Subj: TERMINAL EMULATION I use the VT-100 emulator in FRAMEWORK when I use the IBM PC. When I'm traveling, However this machine is too large for my briefcase and I would like to use my PX-8 to tie into the mainframe. I am able to use the EMACS screen editor by telling it to emulate a SOROC 120 but the are some gliches and it is not well supported. So I would like to have a VT-100 emulator for the GENEVA. Msg#: 1538 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/26/86 13:17:24 (Read 88 Times) From: THOMAS HOLMES To: ONE WHO WANTS 128K ROM Subj: 128K ROM If a 64K ROM doesn't work in the `B' or `C' drives, where would the 128K ROM work? $600 is worth it to me if I can get 256K of programs on the `B' and `C' drives. Any possibilty of expanding the 120K RAM? Where did all the 128K ROM messages go to? Msg#: 1547 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/26/86 21:32:18 (Read 80 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: SYSOP (Rcvd) Subj: THINGS LIKE PATCHES You refer from time to time to "Patches" (like to wordstar to stop it's mollesting my configuration) and "Overlays". Neither of these terms has a specific meaning to me. It seems like when I come across the terms in the books they are also undefined. Can you point me to a place someone without those words in their vocabulary could find their meaning - and also tell how one might design and apply a patch to wordstar. I par0 ticularly miss the ability to advance the printer less than 1/6 of an inch with each CR/LF. JW of Phila Msg#: 1622 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/02/86 00:17:03 (Read 73 Times) From: SYSOP To: JOHN WALTON (Rcvd) Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1547 (THINGS LIKE PATCHES) ŠJohn, for an excellent introduction to patching, check out the WSLOAD program (on disk 20) when you receive it. All patching amounts to is changing a small amount of a program to suit particular needs with a "patching" program. The easiest to use of these type of programs (which usually have many other uses) is PATCH. Or DDT, or SUPERZAP, or EDFILE (all of which you'll find on your disks when they arrive). The documentation for some of these will serve as a good introduction to "patching", though the DUTUTOR.ART (I think this is somewhere on the board) is probably the best article that I've seen on the subject in general, even though iy deals with one particular program (DU) [which is also on the disks]. Bob Msg#: 1553 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/27/86 13:06:21 (Read 89 Times) From: RUSS HARPER To: ALL Subj: ZCPR ON PX-8 I'm a potential user of a PX-8, and have a question. I'm familiar with CP/M from some work done on kaypros, and am a little spoiled since I now have an Amiga. I've heard about a replacement for CP/M called ZCPR that is completely compatible with it. Would one be able to either load ZCPR into ram with the mulitunit or have a rom burned containing this as a replacement for CP/M ? I believe that it would greatly increase ease of use of the machine. Msg#: 1624 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/02/86 00:33:55 (Read 75 Times) From: SYSOP To: RUSS HARPER Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1553 (ZCPR ON PX-8) There is a place in Canada selling the source code for the PX operating system; however anyone interested in this should give the former Sysop of EpsOnLine (I forgot his name) a call some morning at 313-538-3733. He assures me that something can probably be arranged. Msg#: 1559 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/27/86 16:30:53 (Read 82 Times) From: DAN D'AGOSTINO To: ALL Subj: PX-8 COMMUNICATION WITH APPLE II+, OTHER Bob told me that some of you needed to know how to make your PX-8 talk with other computers (i.e. APPLE II+, Zenith etc). There are a few things you need: 1) A communications program (MEX for the PX-8) this is the one I am familiar. 2) A cable (725) as outlined on page B-5 of Operations manual for PX-8. 3) A MEX program or similar on the computer you want to talk with a RS232 port. Now if you have all of the above then the procedure is simple. Use the 725 cable and connect the 8-pin DIN to your PX-8 RS232 port then connect the DB25 connector to the RS232 port on the other computer. Those of you with an APPLE II+ you should have a Serial/Super Serial Card to connect. Next invoke CONFIG on the PX-8 and set BAUD, DATA, PARITY and STOP values so that they will be matched by other computer. Now invoke MEX on both systems. On the PX-8 type "SET COMM" then type "H" to set EXTERNAL (RS232 port) active. Hit and you are ready on the PX-8. You should see "[MEX]A0>>". I assume that other communications software allows you to configure that system to match BAUD, ŠDATA, PARITY, and STOP values, it better because both systems must match. Now on the system you are SENDING the file FROM, at the prompt ">>" type "S filename.ext" and on the system you are sending the file TO, type "R filename.ext". Hit on both systems, the transfer process begins. NOTICE: See messages on CABLES for PX-8 and Diskettes for PX-10. Msg#: 1582 *BULLETIN BOARD* 11/29/86 12:36:15 (Read 76 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: SYSOP AND ALL Subj: NSWP FOWLS CALC On my PX-8 I find that after exiting NSWP by hitting "x" there is something it doesn't do, such that if I next run CALC the orange arrow keys do not work. They create alpha entries like up enters "T". However, if after exiting NSWP I run anything (WordStar, Calc, Basic) then I can enter CALC and it operates OK. The purpose of this message is to inform, seek any clues that I've got something bad or am doing something bad, or possibly, stimulate a suggestion as to how to fix NSWP. JW of Phila. Msg#: 1633 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/02/86 00:56:31 (Read 67 Times) From: SYSOP To: JOHN WALTON (Rcvd) Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1582 (NSWP FOWLS CALC) Believe it or not, I think that some of the WordStar code is actually in the operating system of the PX. I say this just to emphasize that even though the PX is a CPM machine, the CPM on it is just different enough to cause some weird problems like this. Whether or not the 'solution' is found really isn't that inportant (or likely), just as long as 'outs' to specific situations that can arise are known. For instance, there are a couple of programs (DISK77 comes to mind) that when run seem to somehow disable the REMOVE procedure. The first time this happened to me I had just used DISK77 to copy some files to tape, then found I could not REMOVE the tape. So i used the MTREMOVE program. I have since discovered that simply turning the PX off and on remidies the situation. There are several other wierd things that can happen - if anyone has ever heard the 'tick tick time bomb' sound, you know what I mean. Msg#: 1623 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/02/86 00:23:33 (Read 71 Times) From: SYSOP To: JOHN WALTON (Rcvd) Subj: MULTIPLE DRIVES There is a dip switch in the PF-10 (under the battery) that allows it to be recognized as either D or E, or F & G. So if you wanted to hook 4 TF's up to your PX, you would set these swtiches on two of the PF's for the D & E, and two for F & G. With two drives you're best to set one to be recognized as F (will default to F if only one drive present with this setting, or the first of two drives will be F). The multiple drives are 'daisy-chained' together - the first is connected to the PX, the second to the first, the third to the second, ect. Though this may be a little confusing, depending on the dip switch settings of the drives, the 'first' drive could actually be F and the second D Š- this is determined by switch setting only, not by the position in the 'chain'. The first drive in the chain with the F or G setting would become F, just as the first drive with the D or E setting would become E. But, if you had 4 drives, you could physically have F & G before D & E on the chain, if desired. This way, if you just want to take one drive with you somewhere, you could remove the last drive of 3 drive 'chain' and actually be taking the D drive, which would probably be the one desired. Bob Msg#: 1653 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/03/86 00:24:45 (Read 80 Times) From: SYSOP To: CHUCK WHEAT (Rcvd) Subj: DAKCOMM Chuck, check out the Geneva Connection section - there aren't too mnay files yet, but there is one that I think you can just substitute phone numbers, and be able to use to call in here. DAKCOMM has the ability to send and receive via XMODEM, create a Logfile of everything seen online, but cannot send via ASCII transfer, which is what is needed to upload a prewritten message. To do this you'll need to use the Gen. Conn. Just go to the command prompt (ESC) and make sure your protocolis Xon/Xoff (PROT X) and then (after instructing the system that you want to write a message in Block mode) SENDFILE A:FILENAME.EXT should upload your message. Bob Msg#: 1691 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/05/86 00:34:02 (Read 76 Times) From: BOB KATZ To: THOMAS HOLMES/ALL Subj: RTX AND USER BIOS Your problem with RTX and the scheduler is to be expected. Any time you fool with the User Bios you should expect potential problems. The User Bios is a double-edged sword from Epson. I love it but, in general I would not expect you to be able to run two programs from two different manufacturers in User Bios at the same time. If you had the source codes you could sort out the conflicts, but that is of course tough. Therefore, I am afraid you will not be able to run RTX and the Microsoft scheduler at the same time. There is a solution, if you like RTX, try Teledex. It has a scheduler that uses files on the A: drive instead of residing int he User bios at all!. Another conflict I have found is that any program that makes extensive use of the User Bios, (as RTX) may slow down BASIC when BASIC is doing string searches of very large programs. BASIC is a memory hog, and may have serious slow down problems with a large BASIC program and a large User BIIoS. Msg#: 1692 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/05/86 00:38:10 (Read 76 Times) From: BOB KATZ To: JOHN WALTON (Rcvd) Subj: CONFIG MIGRATION I am sure Bob Hermann can do a better job at replying to your message, but let me try. if you are finding your Config settings to be corrupted by programs, let me ask you: 1: are you exiting all of these programs normally? (i.e., ŠWordstar with the X command or the CTRL-KX command from within the program. 2: Do you ever use the ball point pen reset? This may return some things to other settings than in Config. I suggest using the power switch instead of the Ball point pen reset, that may solve some of your problems. 3: If you still have "Config Migration," I would suggest you write down the specific instances in which Config settings appear to be changed and exactly how and when they are changed. Maybe you will have discovered some bugs. Probably, however, they will be bugs in software that change config settings and forget to return them to normal, a la standard guidelines. Hope this helps you. Msg#: 1741 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/07/86 15:32:31 (Read 70 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: JOHN WALTON (Rcvd) Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1692 (CONFIG MIGRATION) I'M ADDING THIS REPLY TO THE STRING OF MESSAGES ON CONFIGURATION MIGRATION. CONTRARY TO MY LAST MESSAGE, BASIC DOES NOT ALWAYS MOLEST MY SCREEN SIZE SETUP. I'LL HAVE TO ACKNOWLEGE THAT I'M FINDING THE CONFIGURATION MORE STABLE NOW THAN A WEEK OR SO AGO AND PROBABLY THE ONLY THING THAT IS CHANGING IS THE NUT THAT IS HOLDING THE STEERING WHEEL. I KNEW BETTER THAN TO ABORT PROGRAMS AND DID NOT THINK I WAS PRACTICING IT, BUT HAVE NOT HAD TO RESET CONFIG FOR ABOUT 80 TURN-ON - TURN-OFF CYCLES EXERCISING ALL THE PROGRAMS I ROUTINELY USE. THANKS TO SEVERAL OF YOU THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THIS QUESTION. THANKS... JW OF PHILA Msg#: 1693 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/05/86 00:41:44 (Read 72 Times) From: BOB KATZ To: DENNIS VIPOND (Rcvd) Subj: GENEVA CONNECTION Dennis, Geneva Connection does not have a save option (capture buffer) as far as I have been able to tell. As for your other question, on auto logging, I have to say that after much hard work and effort, I was able to get a only a semi-automatic log on script. Unfortunately, I erased the script, with joy, I must say, after I tried Teledex! Teledex's auto-log on abilities are great, and it does far mor for you. Of course, that doesn't help you with G.C., so if you still have to have G.C, perhaps I'll try to dig up what I remember of my script to give you a guide. Ultimately I fixed it up so that the G.C. sent a log-on string whenever I hit the ESC key from terminal mode. G.C. is a very frustrating program to try to give auto-log-ons So, unless you're a masochist, try MEX or Teledex, or something else.... Msg#: 1698 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/05/86 23:06:33 (Read 81 Times) From: MARVIN GOTTLIEB To: ALL Subj: SEIKOSHA PRINTER Can anyone tell me why my Seikosha printer is numbering pages one page behind number and then rolls the entire single sheet through. I have to put the sheet back in to make it print . where it should be? n addition, it prints a pagenumber and then rolls the single sheet completely through. I have to put the sheet back in to print Š Msg#: 2597 *BULLETIN BOARD* 01/23/87 12:01:20 (Read 62 Times) From: SYSOP To: MARVIN GOTTLIEB (Rcvd) Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1698 (SEIKOSHA PRINTER) In the downloading section you'll find a whole section of WordStar patching programs. The easiest to use is one called WSX. If you run it by invoking with "wsx *", then it will go through an installation sequence. Just have the printer manual handy to answer the questions, and then you'll have a version installed for your particular needs. Subsequently, then you'll just enter "wsx", and the patch program will load WS and make the necesary changes to it, and you'll end up in WS as you normally would. Bob Msg#: 1710 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/06/86 20:47:14 (Read 87 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: ALL Subj: SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM THIS WEEK I GOT THE PX SERIES PROGRAMS LISTED ON THIS BOARD. WHAT A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND FOR WORKOR PLAY. RECOMMEND A FIX TO LINE NUMBER 491 OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE LANDING SIMULATION - WHICH, INCIDENTALLY IS A NEAT PROGRAM FOR THE PX-8. MY KIDS LIKE IT TOO. REFENENCED LINE HAS SOUND DURATIONS WHICH ARE ILLEGAL FOR PX-8 SO THE SUCCESSFUL LANDING IS GREETED WITHOUT THE ACOUSTIC FLAIR THE WRITER INTENDED. CHANGE ALL THE SOUND DURATIONS FROM "1" TO 15 OR MORE AND YOU'LL ENJOY THE THRILL OF A GREAT TOUCHDONW. BY THE WAY, OUR FAMILY CAN GET THE SHIP ON THE GROUND IN 8 MINUTES IF WE HURRY, OR STRETCH OUT A LANDING TO 43 MINUTES AND STILL MAKE A SAFE LANDING. ANYONE CARE TO CHALLENGE THOSE MARKS? jw OF PHILA. Msg#: 1740 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/07/86 15:16:59 (Read 68 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: SYSOP (Rcvd) Subj: COMMENTS FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH, I GOT THE DAK PACKAGE AND IT IS A COHERENT PACKAGE THAT FITS TOGETHER WITHOUT ANY SPECIAL LITTLE EXCEPTIONS (LIKE FOR PRINTER PROTOCOL ADJUSTMENTS, ETC) i FIND GENEVA CONNECTION AND THE ACCOUSTIC MODEM TO BE THE ONLY THINGS I FOUND TO NOT BE USEFUL. G.C. BECAUSE DAKCOMM WORKED FOR ME AND G.C. DIDN'T - MOST PROBABLY MY OWN FAULT BUT I DIDN'T HAVE TO RESOLVE THAT. JUST SWITCHED TO DAKCOMM AND THEN HAVE MEX AS A RECOMMENDED PUBLIC DOMAIN ELEGANCE WHEN I GET AROUND TO MASTERING IT. THE NEED FOR AN ACCOUSTIC MODEM WITH THE BUILT IN ONE WHICH TAKES NO SPACE, ESCAPES ME. I'LL SHIP MINE TO THE FIRST PERSON THAT OFFERS $25.00. AT FIRST I HAD SINGLE DISC DRIVE BUT AT THE 3 WEEK POINT ORDERED A SECOND ONE. SOME DAY ONE WILL BREAK DOWN AND I DON'T WANT TO BE DOWN WHILE I WAIT FOR REPAIRS (PLUS THE CONVENIENCE FOR COPYING MATERIAL IS NICE). THEM'S THE SENTIMENTS OF A DAK PACKAGE PURCHASER OF ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO. JW OF PHILA. Msg#: 1753 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/08/86 06:04:55 (Read 76 Times) From: NORMAN KUNC To: BOND SHANDS (Rcvd) Subj: PX.COM IS GREAT! I second the nomination for px.dock. But when you convert disks to 320k, FINDBAD.COM doesn't seem to check out the directory or system tracks. Do you or anyone else have a suggestion as to how to solve this problem. Also have you figured out what key combination has been loaded on to pfk5 to turn the pfk display off? Msg#: 1755 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/08/86 06:16:06 (Read 79 Times) From: NORMAN KUNC To: ALL SPELL.COM USERS Subj: A NIFTY LITTLE MACRO I've figured out a neat little macro which allows you to update the personal dictionary without leaving the text you're working on. Change spell.dic to `S' and put it in A: Be sure you're logged on to A: Setup pfkeys accordingly: pfk6: ^KB^QF^S^KK^KC pfk7: ,^S^KRS^M^KWS^M^KY pfk8 (optional) ^QF&^M^M For more details, see SPELLADD.TXT wherever Bob has put it. Msg#: 1765 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/08/86 19:18:00 (Read 68 Times) From: JERRY LAUX To: ALL Subj: FILINK TO KAYPRO KAYPRO - FILINK - KAYPRO - FILINK Someone out there must be successfully communicating with a Kaypro, using FILINK on the PX-8. The advantages are obvious and overwhelming. It turns your Kaypro into a disk drive for your PX-8 programs and files, at the lowest possible cost in PX-8 ROM or RAM. It lets you get all the software on the PXDOCK at its cheapest cost (unless you're calling the BBS from Detroit), and without tying up the phone lines. You can try them all, and when you decide what's best for your PX-8 enjoyment, have the SYSOP burn them to ROM. That way, you're not wasting your ROM space on somebody else's favorite programs. All these things are possible if you can just make your Kaypro talk to FILINK; but so far I can't. I have EPYLINK2 (other comm. #12), and CPMFILINK (misc. programs #4); but I have not been able to make either one work. EPYLINK seems to think it's on a Dynabyte computer, and CPMFILINK doesn't know what it's on. PXXKAY.DOC (other comm. #6) does a good job of explaining how to link a Kaypro with MITE to a PX-8 using TERM; but TERM doesn't do error checking so it's too risky for program transfer. And with FILINK, no matter how I vary the parameters, I keep getting "Sender not ready" on one computer, and "Receiver not ready" on the other. Ironically, FILINK works perfectly with MSDOS machines running FILECO.EXE (other comm. #11); so it certainly should work with the most common of all CP/M computers. How about it? Can one of you experts out there explain: ??? HOW TO MAKE MY KAYPRO TALK TO FILINK ??? Thank you, Jerry Laux Msg#: 1987 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/22/86 20:42:25 (Read 60 Times) From: TIMOTHY WIRKUS To: JERRY LAUX Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1765 (FILINK TO KAYPRO) Jerry...I gave up on FILINK and just use MEX to transfer files from the Kaypro to the PX8, or vice-a-versa (how ever that is spelled!). No problems what's so ever, and I connect the two at 9600 baud. Why not try it? Tim W. Msg#: 1778 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/09/86 19:38:46 (Read 73 Times) From: MARK MILLER To: ROGER BERNHARDT (Rcvd) Subj: KEYBOARD MAP I think somewhere in one of the PX-8 manuals there is a listing of the ASCII code. The keyboard keys generate the ASCII character as marked on the key, e.g., a shifted a (A) generates a 41h (hexadecimal) or a 65d (decimal) or a 1000001 (binary). ASCII is standard -- that's what the S stands for. ASCII extends only to 7Fh (127d). Beyond that, anything goes, meaning that anyone is free to use the additional 128 8 bit codes any way they want, i.e, NO standard. The additional 128 codes are provided by utilizing the "8th bit", which is actually bit 7, and which is NOT used in ASCII, i.e., ASCII sets bit 7 0 (in binary terminology) ALWAYS, so an additional 128 codes can be obtained by setting bit 7 1; these are often called the high bit codes and are not standardized. (That binary ASCII code for A is actually 8 bits in length, i.e., 10000010, but when we talk ASCII, we assume the 8th bit (bit 7) is 0. There is another chart somewhere in the PX-8 documentation showing what high bit codes produce what with the PX-8, as I recall, some primative graphic characters. Control codes begin at 01h and extend through 1Fh. These are ASCII codes, and can be generated by the simutaneous pressing of the CONTROL key and the appropriate alpha key for codes 01h (CNTL-a) through 1Ah (CNTL-z). 1Bh can be generated with the ESCAPE key, but the remaining control characters cannot be generated from the keyboard without software support. (Only four left.) Find those tables and study them along with the information here and you'll know all there is to know about ASCII and keyboard input (as well as output). Msg#: 1794 *BULLETIN BOARD* 12/10/86 22:36:10 (Read 67 Times) From: JOHN WALTON To: MARK MILLER (Rcvd) Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 1778 (KEYBOARD MAP) A FUN AND INFORMATIVE WAY TO GET THE KEYBOARD INFORMATIN LOOKED FOR IS TO WRITE A LITTLE BASIC PROGRAM TO GET THE ASCII CODE FOR ANY KEY HIT, THEN DISPLAY (PRINT) THE ASCII AND THE CHARACTER FOR WHICH IT STANDS ON THE SCREEN. THERE ARE SOME UNUSUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOME OF THE NON-STANDARD KEYS. THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS IS THAT ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DOCUMENTATION AND THE MACHINE ARE ELIMINATED. JW OF PHILA.