To : 999 (All members)
From : 2J3
Subject: 5.25" discs for 27.5p each!
I have now purchased a large quantity
of 5.25 inch discs DS DD with the
intention of passing them on to anyone
that wants them. Buying them in bulk
enabled me to get them quite cheaply.
They cost me 27.5p each. If you want
some, any quantity from 1 upwards,
contact me, you can have them for
exactly what it cost me. That's 27.5
pence each plus whatever the postage
may be to send them on to you.
For instance:
Send £1.00p and a first class stamp, I
will send you 3 DFS formatted discs.
Or send £3.25p and I will send 10 discs
to you (this includes postage of 50p).
Anyone interested, drop me a line.
Write to:
C.J.Richardson
17 Lambert Park Road
Hedon
Hull
HU12 8HF
To : 999 (All members)
From : 27N (John Ilsley)
Subject: For sale
Ultra Calc two rom + manual in original
box and original rom, needs OS 1.0 or
higher for model B or Master
Price: £5.00 includes p+p
£5.25 recorded delivery.
Write to:
John Ilsley
61 Kingsley Road
Southsea
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO4 8HL
To : 999 (All members)
From : 27N (John Ilsley)
Subject: A couple of points
There was some comment on which
computer, Arch, BBC B, Master or
compact.... Well, the BBC B is fine for
most stuff, testing robots and external
devices, Great for ROM/RAM boards, up
to 16 sockets on ATPL boards, that is
the only disadvantage on the Master.
Otherwise the Master 128 has everything
except 128k of memory!. I can get 50k
out of mine if I'm in shadow and have
the turbo switched on but I can't use
the Turbo board if I'm running the BB,
so it only gets used to time things.
It's amazing how fast some things are,
I did a line program, it did 77 lines
in 5 seconds without the turbo, and 266
with it on. A big increase, but it
didn't make any difference if the
cursor was on or off!.... Surprisingly
.... Technological Progress.
We all know about the PCs and BBCs ...
.. How about 3rd and 4th generation
computers? What about the new 1Gbyte
computers, and the new computers that
the AA are coming out with! The 1Gbyte
disc drives, Yes, disc drives. If I
remember the price was in the region of
three grand for one computer....
... mad to pay that much for a computer
that is BOUND to go wrong once a week!.
To : 999 (All Members)
From : 2J3 (Chris Richardson)
Subject: Software, hardware, books.
I have a quantity of software still for
sale. Discs go for £3.00p each. Tapes
50p each. Postage extra. I am open to
offers.
On disc:
The Gold Collection. Revs.
Cheat it again joe volume 4.
On tape:
Tablesums. Pole position. Numberfun.
Missile control. Graphics package.
Getset. Karls Kavern. Hunchback.
Lord of the rings. Space Jailer. Vortex
Graphic Adventure Creator. Nightshade.
10 computer hits. Hell driver. Hacker.
Repton 2. Caveman adventure.
Alien 8. Eddie Kidd's jump challenge.
I also know of someone wanting to sell
a BBC B and single disc drive for £110.
Anyone interested, contact me.
I also have the BBC advanced user guide
for sale. £4.00p
My address is:
17 Lambert Park road
Hedon
Hull
HU12 8HF
To : 999 (All members)
From : 27N (John Ilsley)
Subject: Database in issue 25
.... I tested the program out before I
sent it in, and couldn't find that
PREVIOUS error. I just tested the
program, and yes... there is an error
there, and for no aparent reason.... Or
if there is a reason, I can't find it!
... and since I can't find the problem,
I've decided to re-write a new
database. This database will allow any
files already created with the database
that has the error to be copied....
I'll arrange this later. I also have
a few more tricks up my sleeve since
this too will be disc based, I can make
it do a few extra things.
..... my apologies to 0E7. Also my
thanks for finding the problem and
explaining it so well.
To : 999 (All)
From : 27N (John Ilsley)
Subject: Replacement and new equipment
If anyone wants stuff like the battery
for the Master, I can get most stuff.
I can also get printer paper and such
delivered and ribbons and inks for
nearly every make of printer even the
KP810. Here's a few prices.... (Talking
about drives in the Mag, here's the
cheapest and the most expensive NEW
ones.)
Prices don't include p+p
Cumana 800k dual bridge+PSU 40/80 £227
Cumana 400k single 3.5" drive, no PSU
80tpi £77
Master 128 £366.60
New BBC B with DFS £225
Master Battery nest £5.88
Loads of roms, Books, Games, utilities
etc...
If you want the address give me a yell,
I have several suppliers for different
stuff. So if someone wants something,
let me know what it is, then I will
look through my different catalogues
and find the cheapest.
Write to:
John Ilsley
61 Kingsley Road
Southsea
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO4 8HL
To : 999 (All)
From : 27N (John Ilsley)
Subject: Wants
I am looking for a cassette deck for an
ATARI 800XL. I can go to £15.00
To : 999 (All)
From : 3MK (Brian Brookes)
Subject: For sale and wanted
To clear a bit of space in my study, I
have to get rid of something!
Can I interest anybody in an Acorn Z80
second processor with all the works?
Ie Processor; Manuals (User guide,
Technical notes, File plan, Z80 Basic
user guide, Z80 Professional Basic user
guide, Accountant, Memo plan, Graph
plan, Cis-Cobol, Cis-Cobol + Animator &
Forms 2, CP/M 2.2 with GSX graphics,
Nucleus system generator);
Books ("Introducing CP/M on the BBC
Micro Second processor" by Bruce Smith,
& "Wordstar & CP/M made easy" by John
Lee); 7 master discs - including one
duplicate copy; & a set of function key
cards. See the reviews in Beebug vol 3,
nos 4 and 5.
All this for £55 (or offer) plus
postage or collect from Perthshire!
Whether or not I succeed in gaining
some extra space, I am hoping to
install a Watford DDFS system in my
ageing Beeb. I presently use Acorn DFS
+ 8271 controller, so I need a full WE
upgrade kit. Is it possible somebody
out there can help?
Also needed, the "Beebdos" software for
PC's enabling MS-Dos machines to read
Acorn DFS.
To : 15A (Steven Flintham) + 999
From : 0E7 (Fred Nevin)
Subject: MASTER 128 BATTERY.
The MASTER SERIES of microcomputers are
now fitted with a 4.5V battery unit
instead of one 3.0V lithium cell. These
battery units are supposed to be
available from all ACORN dealers at a
price of about 4.50 £4.99. The battery
is to provide backup to maintain the
contents of CMOS RAM at all times when
the computer is disconnected from the
mains power supply. The battery life
under 'NORMAL' operating conditions is
supposed to be approximately one year.
As yet I have to replace my battery
unit and the computer is now some two
years old.
I think there is something in what you
say about the more you use the computer
the longer the battery will last. One
can assume that if the computer is run
continuously then the battery will only
require replacement when it dies of old
age due to internal reaction.
Incidentally at the front of the
WELCOME GUIDE there are details of how
to change the battery unit and this
supercedes the information given on
page 242. It seems quite a job and the
best advice I can think of is to keep
on using the computer.
To : 999 (All)
From : 0E7 (Fred Nevin)
Subject: ADFS FILE ATTRIBUTES
I believe that everyone has some and I
expect you all know better than I that
Files on disc have four.(I hope)
They are:-
(L) to lock files to prevent any
writing to the file.
(W) to accept writing to the file
(R) to accept reading of the file
These are or can be used in various
combinations to control ACCESS to the
files on disc.
There remains another attribute which
is of very dubious benefit if any at
all, that is (E) which allows a file to
be executed/read only and this
attribute CANNOT be altered by normal
*ACCESS.
Sorry to be so long in getting to the
point but HELP!!!.HELP!!!.HELP!!!.
Whilst inputting an M/C programme and
getting it to function rather than
malfunction I obviously RAN the
programme to obtain the code and found
there were some typing errors (Well,
what else can you expect). These were
corrected and it was not till much
later I discovered that some other
files on the disc (of which
unfortunately I have no backup) had had
their Attributes changed from LWR to
the dreaded E which I ' Attribute' to
the faulty M/C. How do I get rid of the
E Attribute and get back to LWR. I
remember a long time ago about 7-8
years or so a programme was published
in the Acorn User to overcome this
problem. Does anyone have a copy of the
programme that they can let me have
please or has anyone written one. Any
suggestions apart from the one that you
should always input programmes onto
blank discs to prevent this happening
or keep a backup will be most welcome.
Editor... I now realise that the
CATALOGUE item in issue 25 had a
fragment missing. The E attribute.
Well, if you refer back to that article
and remember how the filenames and
attributes etc are stored, from &C405
in blocks of 26, then it is easy to see
the 5th byte of the name marks whether
the E attribute is set or not. If this
byte is above 128 then the E attribute
is set. If this is so, then just remove
128 from it and save the catalogue back
to disc. The program Eoff! on this disc
will do this for you. If the E
attribute is set in a sub-directory,
you will have to enter that directory
before running the program. Thanks for
pointing it out Fred!
To : 999 (All)
From : L1L (Jock Smylie)
Subject: Clipart/mode conversion
Does anyone have a P.D. conversion
program to convert between the two
desktop publishers, Watford's Wapping
Editor and AMX Pagemaker/Stop Press Or,
would anyone be prepared to write such
a program? I have included copies of
both a PD viewer for Wapping Editor
clipart anda PD viewer for Pagemaker
/Stop Press clipart ('W.VIEWER' and
'P.VIEWER'). I also include a Wapping
Editor clipart file, 'G.VISA'.
Similarly is there a program or would
anyone be prepared to write a program
to convert standard MODE 0 screens to
Pagemaker/Stop Press clipart format.
And/or a utility to convert Fleet
Street Editor clipart to Pagemaker/Stop
-Press format.
Fourthly, the same question as above
but regarding a PD utility to convert
any graphics mode to any other graphics
mode. This last utility would be the
most useful to the most people no
doubt.
To : 999 (All)
From : L1L (Jock Smylie)
Subject: File lengths/DFS disk space
*INFO
eg.
$.Comment L 000000 000000 000951 00D
Regarding the above example using the
*INFO command, can anyone tell me, or
write a short line of code or two, to
obtain the third piece of file
information from within a program. That
is, the file length information (000951
in this case). I would like to be able
to calculate the amount of space
remaining on a disk as a routine within
a program. Is this the right approach?
Or, is this information already held in
the same track on the disk?
To : 999 (All)
From : 19F (Theo Gray)
Subject: Filename Variables
How do you use any variables included
after a filename, within the program,
in a way such as:
*<fsp> <variable> <variable> <variable>
I ask, because I would like to write a
short program to include on my discs
called SRLOAD to act like the Master
sideways RAM loading command to load
ROM images into the RAM in my Watford
Electronics ROM/RAM board which
contains sideways RAM, but which is
dynamic (whatever this means).
To load in a ROM image from disk, I
have to use the following commands,
which I would need to incorporate in
the program:
?&FF3<ram no. IN HEX>=0 (eg ?&FF31=0
clears RAM bank 1)
*LOAD <fsp> 8000 followed by a press of
<BREAK>
(I have only got RAM banks 0 to 3)
This would be very helpful, as I could
then also use it to load into sideways
RAM any commercial games which use this
command, although I would have to be
able to substitute the third variable (
RAM letter, if I am informed correctly)
for a number 0 to 3 within the SRLOAD
routine.
To : Silas S. Brown + 999 (All)
From : 19F (Theo Gray)
Subject: PD music
Firstly, to Silas, thank you very much
for the envelopes, as they seem to be
just about what I wanted.
I was wondering recently, when looking
through listings of PD music by Silas,
and others, how the coding worked, as I
can not understand what any of the DATA
statements mean, or how they can work
with the program as it is. Is this just
some sort of fancy protection, or what?