Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!jack!man!sdiris1!jjc From: jjc@sdiris1.UUCP (Jim J. Carter) Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy Subject: Re: Anyone got a Tandy 1000? Message-ID: <590@sdiris1.UUCP> Date: Tue, 28-Jul-87 14:06:59 EDT Article-I.D.: sdiris1.590 Posted: Tue Jul 28 14:06:59 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jul-87 01:33:52 EDT References: <14046@watmath.waterloo.edu> Distribution: na Organization: Control Data Corp.(CIM), San Diego Lines: 74 in article <14046@watmath.waterloo.edu>, mdharding@watmath.UUCP says: > > As to compatibility, I have found several things that barf on my 1000. The > majority of them are graphics/game programs that some knowledgeable person > told me use different memory scan routines, and also look for a DMA on the > mother- board. (Thanks Tom, if you're out there). But also to my > surprise, I purchased a couple of games from Radio Shack stores > designed especially for the 1000 (the more notable of the two being > Demon Attack) which presumably are optimized for a1000, yet don't even > want to begin to work on IBM PC's. My opinion is that Tandyare > stressing the idea that their 1000's (and others) are not just PC > compat.'s,but a whole different breed, so to speak. > I just purchased a Tech. ref manual on the tandy 1000A (the old 1000) . I have also been trying to play with MINIX on the 1000. That has opened up a whole can of worms. The tandy 1000A as far as I can tell is a pc-jr. MINIX (A unix Version-7 for pc-compats) doesn't use the BIOS, and as a result shows just how compatible each pc is. Anyway, its fun to figure out the differences and fix up an opperating system. > > As to Deskmate software - no phlames intended, but I personally found it to be > practically worthless. About the only redeeming quality it has is that it fits > on a single disk, as opposed to integrated packages that need megs of space. I must agree. The software is slow(in my opinion). Although deskmate is a nice integrated package, it lacks features I can get from single programs which I would not sacrifice for the integrated package. > > My next question: does anyone have a good explanation of what the > HOLD key does on the 1000? Does it freeze output, or halt the cpu, or > am I not even close? As far as I'm concerned it's just great. I have > been able to stop every single program I've ever run (bar _one_ > exception) instantaneously, frozen. It's great for real-time games (of > which I'm a real fan), the programs don't even know about it and > therefore can't protect against it when writing the code. I looked in the ref manual under Keyboard section and found that the key number = 48 and the scan code = 0x46. as far as the hardware goes, there is nothing special about the HOLD key. It must be handled in the BIOS. Also, I noticed that the HOLD key doesn't have the same effect when MINIX is running. From these two observations, I would have to conclude that the bios does something special when you pressMy question, I purchased a multi function board from Advanced Transducer Devices (alias Zucker boards), and I have been trying to figure out how to set/get the time from the clock chip from assembly. If someone had a program that did this, it would be nice if you could mail me a copy, or I would send a disk. Every time I call ATD they say : I don't even know how to program the clock, ... We don't even have the source for that program. A real cop-out as far as service goes. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks. > Let's hear from the Tandy 1000 owners amongst us!!!!!!!! O.K. let's here from someone else !!! > > Matt. (mdharding@watmath.UUCP, I think) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP: ...!hp-sdd!crash!sdiris1!jim | Jim Carter or: ...!sdcsvax!jack!man!sdiris1!jim | Control Data Corporation (CIM) Work : +1 619 450 6516 | 4455 Eastgate Mall, Home : +1 619 455 0607 | San Diego, CA 92121