From: D6G (Sprow)
Subject: Doomsday
As detailed on my webpage,Doomsday is
now at V1.13,and as well as a printed
manual,I've added another handy
command:
*LIB (with no parameters) shows the
currently selected library.
The newer version also adds some
enhancements to the commands as well
as internal improvements that you
can't actually see - but believe me
they're there.
Doomsday,in case you've been in a dark
box for the last 8 months, fixes the
year 2000 problem on the 8 bit range
of machines, such as the Master.
The date range is extended to 1800 to
2199 instead, giving you another few
hundred years to play with, and also
has some additional handy *commands to
boot!
For details,contact me,address in
advert section.
Hope this is of interest to someone
out there.
Sprow
8BSMail:D6G
From: D6G (Sprow)
Subject: Support
Last time Chris (our esteemed editor)
was 'complaining' about dwindling
support for these old yellow machines
that we use.
Not so - there is a load of support on
the Internet from 'enthusiasts' who
still use or remember the Beeb.
I advertise 8BS's web pages on my BBC
area
(www.york.ac.uk/÷rps102/bbc/bbc.htm)
and even Acorn still support the
BBC. On the occasions when I've needed
info from them they've always come
back to me with help of some sort,even
if it wasn't the direct answer I
wanted.
Also, they make available all their
application notes on BBCs so that you
can correct all your manuals and find
those undocumented changes to OS calls
actually documented somewhere!
Sprow.
8BSMail:D6G
EDITOR..... Actually, I was not
complaining of lack of support for the
BBC! I was asking members to submit new
software for use in the magazine, that
request still stands.
From: K3H (ALBERT SCHOFIELD.)
Subject: TAPE TO DISC ON THE BBC B
At first glance RANSACK appears to be
a game which would be difficult to
transfer to disc. The filenames are
mostly ten characters long and the
first file loads at &900 which would
appear to need downloading. But this
is not so. Actually it is fairly
straightforward as it has been
converted from the disc version so all
that is needed is to convert it back
to disc. Also the first part does not
need to be downloaded.
All the files are locked so an
unlocking utility will be needed for
each file. Load in the first file,
RANSACK! using *LOAD""1900. Save it to
disc using :-
*SAVE RANSACK 1900+3FF 900 900
If you now dump the file you will see
the TAPE command. Use a sector editor
to change this to DISC. Further on you
will see the seven original filenames
which in order are SCREEN, NEL, N2,
N3, N5, N1 and N4. The RUN command
that appears before each filename has
had 0D (carriage return) inserted
after it to block it. Use a sector
editor to replace all seven of the 0D
tokens with 20 (space).
All that is required now is to
transfer the rest of the files to disc
using the new filenames as follows.
All the files can be loaded using:-
*LOAD""1900 and saved as follows:-
*SAVE SCREEN 1900+9C0 A15 2F00
*SAVE NEL 1900+500 A15 6AC0
*SAVE N2 1900+1040 A15 6FC0
*SAVE N3 1900+30D0 A15 2730
*SAVE N5 1900+500 A15 2200
*SAVE N1 1900+800 A15 62C0
*SAVE N4 1900+1630 A15 1100
Entering *RUN RANSACK or *RANSACK
will now load and run the game.
From: E2U (LEN MAPP)
Subject: ELECTRONICS FOR COMPUTER
PROJECTS
I have many extracts from Electronics
Magazines circa 1985-90
e.g. Practical Electronics
BBC Micro Forum Series
Everyday Electronics
Beeb Series
If you have any particular
requirement I will check to see if I
have it.
From: D6G (Sprow)
Subject: Misaligned drives
Jon Ripley was having problems with a
3.5" drive on an Archimedes in the
last issue,and although that's not
really BBC related,the exact same
principle applies to those of us who
have 3.5" drives for the beeb.
Dismantle the casing,and loosen the
two screws that hold the head in
place,now is a good time to give the
heads a really good clean with a
cotton wool bud,then shove in a KNOWN
WORKING floppy from a machine with
correctly calibrated heads.
The disk should be full - ie.have
files right on the inner tracks and on
the outermost ones.
With the machine turned on try to
catalogue the floppy,nudging the head
a little further from left to right
each time you get a drive fault.
Note the first position you get a
catalogue,and carry on until you start
getting disk faults.
Halve the angle you've produced and
(akin to tuning a TV set) you should
have a good job.
Tighten up the screws,making sure that
the action of turning the screws
clockwise doesn't knock the heads out
again!!
There is a more accuarte method,using
lots of expensive test equipment,but
that's not as fun.
Hope this has been of help,
Sprow.
email: rps102@york.ac.uk
8BSmail: D6G
fax: 01625 431067