THE MISOSYS QUARTERLY Volume 111.1 Summer 1988 Table of Contents The Blurb ...................................... 2 New Product Announcements ........................... 6 Family Update .................................. 6 Letters to the Editor ................................. 8 DOS Subjects .................................... 21 LDOSTh and Model 3 Information ......................... 21 LS-DOS and Model 4 Information ....................... 22 MS-DOSTm Information ............................. 25 Roy's Technical Corner ............................... 27 Getting into computer math ........................... 27 Applications for the User .............................. 31 Reading NEWDOS/80 disks, by David Goben .................. 31 XMODEM in C, by David B. Lamkins ...................... 35 An LB Archival utility, by Daniel Srebnick ................... The Programmer's Corner ............................. 41 Popup Application Window, by Roy Soltoff ................... 41 MISOSYS Products' Tidbits ............................ 52 MC C-compiler ................................. 52 EnhComp.................................... 55 Little Brother Data Manager ........................... 56 PRO-WAM Windows & Applications ...................... 57 Data sheets on UPS/SPS ...............................59 The Hardware Corner ............................... 63 International keyboards ............................. 63 Hard drives ................................... 64 Notes on the XLR8er .............................. 66 PCB Hardware tips ................................ 71 Index to TMQ Volume I ............................... 72 Copyright © 1988 by MISOSYS, Inc., All rights reserved P0 Box 239, Sterling, VA 22170-0239 703-450-4181 Volume III.! THE MISOSYS QUARTERLY- SUMMER 1988 Volume III.! able to nothing but just -take care of orders. My. desk, previously backlogged with work, now looks like a mountain. I am probably two or more months behind in handling correspondence. I am now back to the position where some mail will not get answered. So if you sent in a letter expecting The Blurb an immediate reply, it just won't happen. I had expected in July to release a serial driver package for the by XLR8er; however that project is behind schedule. I actually started on it. In fact, I felt that I would start out by adapting my disassembler and my MRAS assembler to support the Roy Soltoff 64180 (or Z180) OP codes. I have completed the disassembler but I have yet to test out the Model 3 version. So I will hold off from making any formal announcement until next issue. I then modified MRAS to support the 64180 OP codes as well (via a switch option). Before I released a new version of MRAS, I wanted to enhance the MLINK linker to support the chain address special link item required to enable it to link Points to Ponder Microsoft FORTRAN-generated REL modules. That's where I ran into a small snag. Handling the link item was very easy; Since this may very well be the first column you turn to when the chain address is just a subset of the chain external link you open up your issue of TMQ, let me first apologize in item which was already supported by MLINK. Unfortunately, advance if you feel this issue is a little rough behind the edges. since the FORTRAN compiler is a one pass compiler, it I wanted to make sure that this issue was completed and off to doesn't generate the size of each segment (code, data, our printer prior to going on vacation. The Blurb is the last common) until the end of the code stream. The current archi- piece I generate for an issue. As I write this, it is Wednesday tecture of MLINK establishes a memory block for each August 3rd, and the camera ready copy for the entire issue module segment used to store bytes for the segment. This must be ready by tomorrow afternoon. Since I can't preprint requires that the segment size link item must precede any the remainder of the magazine because the page numbers will bytes which are part of the segment. To handle FORTRAN depend on how long The Blurb is, final printing takes place linking, MLINK needs to either incorporate a sophisticated tomorrow morning. That's a good reason to have shifted over memory management scheme, or read the input module twice to a Laser printer which takes no more than 15 minutes to to establish the segment sizes. I haven't yet decided which print the entire issue. way to go. I suspect that I may decide on the latter and provide a preliminary pass under switch control. MLINK I normally would have had the issue ready for the printer by could easily detect the condition of sensing a segment byte the 19th, or 22nd; thus, I have pulled up the deadline by two before the segment was sized. So this is why I can't formally weeks. That did not allow me the time to spend a week announce a new MRAS release. I also had not planned to alter browsing through all of the archived messages captured from the EDAS or PRO-CREATE assemblers, but since the code the MISOSYS forum on Compuserve (PCS49). I usually changes have already been done for MRAS, altering EDAS extract dialog which I feel is of importance to TMQ readers. will only require me to re-groom the source code files to That content usually represents about 15-20 pages of material incorporate all of the patches which have been applied, I now for TMQ. So this issue will be a little slimmer; it in no way is expect to add the 64180 support to EDAS/PRO-CREATE. a trend. It gave me the opportunity of inserting the index to TMQ Volume I which was prepared by Elmar Von Muralt. As far as the XLR8er driver is concerned, that ran into a few You'll find that index at the tail end of this TMQ. I expect to snags. Remember, folks, that the driver support was supposed insert the index to Volume II in a later issue. to be provided by H.I.Tech many months ago. MISOSYS never had the responsibility for that. However, since we have Both Brenda and I have been extremely busy over the past few taken over the distribution of XLR8er boards, we have been months. You recollect from the last issue that Brenda broke forced to do the work. First, I discovered that the power cables her ankle some months back. That put a crimp on what I was supplied by H.I.Tech were incorrectly assembled. Next, it able to get accomplished since she was off work for two-three appears that the CTS status line uses a voltage level for a logic weeks. With the birth of Benjamin in June (see Brenda's high which is of opposite sense to that normally used in the Family Corner at the end of The Blurb), Brenda was again TRS-80. Furthermore, in order to be of use as a serial port, the away from MISOSYS for almost a month. Believe me, she 64180 Asynchronous Serial Communication Interface (ASCI) was really anxious to get back to work. Since MISOSYS sent needs to be operated in a mode which at least uses the receive out an 11,000 piece mailing in Mid-May, sent out 850 character interrupt. Since the internal interrupt controller for Quarterlies at the end of May, sent out over 400 TMQ renewal 64180 enhanced functions operates similar to standard Z80 notices at the beginning of June, and took over the sale and interrupt mode 2, it is more difficult to simultaneously support support of LS-DOS 6.3 June 1st, during most of June, I was The Blurb -2- The Blurb Volume III.i THE MISOSYS QUARTERLY- SUMMER 1988 Volume III.i the ASCI interrupts as well as the standard mode 1 interrupts typical removable power cord with the standard American- of the model 4 under the current architecture of the DOS type three-prong plug. If that helps our off-shore customers, without some very tricky code. The internal interrupt handler you folks may only need to revise the AC power cable with a must be coded to reside in low memory, must include a 32- different plug. I cover a little more detail on that hard drive byte region at a 32-byte boundary for internal interrupt package later. vectors, and must support memory management to switch in memory bank 0 in order to handle a serial driver anywhere in My final comments are directed to Gordon Collins, of the 64K address space. I need to do some more research and NATGUG, a user group over in England. No Gordon, I won't soul searching to decide on the final plan of attack. The "shoot you at dawn" for reprinting some brief excerpts of simplified driver I have written which doesn't use interrupts is TMQ in the NATGUG NEWS. Certainly informational items just not effective for general work. I expect to thoroughly are free to reprint in any club newsletter if it helps the cause of digest the IIIBANKS, FIXBANKS, and FIXALL modules to communicating valuable information among TRS-80 users. I explore a method of integrating the internal interrupt handling just don't want wholesale re-printing of articles. within the XLR8er interfacing software. So the serial driver is on the back burner until other matters are first dealt with. I thoroughly enjoyed reading John Coyne's article on "Moving Superlog 4 into the XLR8 Board" in your August Now for some good news. I came across an interesting article 1988 issue, as Gordon uncovered the problem of using in Computer Reseller News, dated June 20, 1988. The article, simultaneously, both Superlog and PRO-WAM. That problem Computer Execs' Portfolios Rebound, covered the was reported to me quite some time ago, but not being a Microcomputer executives' stock holdings and their current Superlog user (or owner), I never had the time or experience value for the top 165 executives. The micro computer industry with Superlog to investigate that operating conflict. John is not that old, yet it has made multi-$milions in paper profits uncovered the conflict to be excessive use of the system stack.