John E. Juergens
[address omitted]
Bill Jones
c/o UPDATE Magazine
1317 Stratford Avenue
Panama City, FL 32404
Dear Bill,
The article on page 17, UPDATE, Jan ’89, by Oscar Sensabaugh (another of your nom de plume’s?), R. O. C. (Regular Old Curmudgeon?) presents a problem which has a solution. I am referring to the statement that Oscar uses TWO QL “work copies” in order to implement two printing devices, a QL and a Smith-Corona printer AND he has to make his choice of printing devices BEFORE starting.
With four devices to output to (Star Gemini 10X, Panasonic Penwriter, Silver-Reed typewriter and QL Talker) Oscar’s solution, in our case, would prove a bonanza for the microdrive cartridge manufacturer(s). As a plank-owner in DMUG (Dedicated Microdrive Users’ Group) I would like to suggest a less cartridge-intensive option.
1. Delete QLWP_hob (The HELP file) from your QLWP backup/”working copy” to give yourself some room. When the choice is a $3.00+ cartridge or punching up Help on F1, we opt for looking up the answer in the manual and using that valuable media space for things like extra printer drivers and often-used forms. Printer drivers consume 1 sector apiece and forms (a blank QLWP page with Margin, Tab, Design, Header and Footers set to our liking) consume 5 sectors each.
2. Make all of the different printer drivers you need via the installation program. The only problem here is that each driver has to be made with a separate run-through of that program – which takes a lot of time. After each driver run-through what you end up with is: (1) An updated install_dat file which has all of the information about each driver you have made to date, and, (2) A file called printer_dat which is the new printer driver you have just configured.
a. Before going on to the second/next driver configuration copy the just-configured printer_dat file under the file_name you wish to use; eg. Copy mdv1_printer_dat to mdv1_QLPrinter_dat or copy mdv1_printer_dat to mdv1_SmCorPtr_dat and go on to the next driver configuration.
b. Do as many of these as you have need for and then make a copy of your QLWP “working copy” copy in order to spare you all of the agony you just went through when your original “working copy” gives up the ghost. Deleting the HELP file (QLWP_hob) from your “working copy” gives you about all of the room you may need.
3. When you next bring up QLWP with your “working copy” AND before you send anything to the printer select your driver of choice (SmCorPtr_dat for example) and do the following: F3, (O)ther, (F)iles, (D)elete mdv1_printer_dat, ENTER. ESC, (B)ackup, mdv1_SmCorPtr_dat, ENTER(to) mdv1_printer_dat, ENTER, ESC, ESC. Yes, you CAN copy a file FROM mdv1 TO mdv1!
The net result of these “exercizes” is to allow you to have your choice of printing devices WHEN, WHERE and HOW you choose; a full range of options without having to reset and re-load if you later change your mind and ALL on one cartridge.
re: (S)udden (L)ock (S)yndrome, page 11, UPDATE, Jan/’89
If I can extrapolate from your SLS experiences as well as my own there are probably a great number of QL users out there who were relieved to hear you voice that particular problem; we/they are not alone!
If the problem is what I believe it to be – momentary powerline interruption or sudden voltage drop to the QL caused by a/several high load appliances turning on – the generic fix is obvious: Attach the QL to a non-interruptible power source. Notice that I did not say the fix was easy or inexpensive.
A few blocks away from us live a family with a large (spell it “expensive”) Apple investment. If they are “computing” when the furnace blower turns on, immediately thereafter they are NOT computing. I haven’t touched base with them recently but unless they switched power supply circuits wintertime computing is either out, very risky or they are cold.
As the power supply requirement to the ZX81/TS1000 is relatively simple, one nine/ten volt DC supply at less than 1 amp, seven AA ni-cads in series, diode paralleled to and trickle-charged by the supply adaptor worked very well for me; no SLS thereafter (at least none caused by the power supply.)
With the QL things are not that simple: Two supplies, 9 VDC, unregulated, at 1.8A and 15.6 VAC at 200 ma vitalize the computer according to the specs glued to my power supply.
On the face of it one solution would be to plug the QL power supply into a 75 watt (min. AC output) DC to AC converter operating from a 12 volt gel-cel, motorcyle or vehicle battery.
A quick look at my pile of catalog sources reveal that (besides the fact that things have never been the same since Allied Radio, Lafayette and Olsen stopped sending out catalogs) Tripp Lite will sell you their SB-200 (not including the battery) for $240 through Fordham, 260 Motor Parkway, Hauppage, NY, 11788 (516) 435-8080. The literature claims computer use but it also mentions a 10 ms switch-over time which seems a bit slow to me.
A non-generic but less expensive fix is to backup your deathless prose often and regularly to MDV or disk. It wont eliminate resets but it will eliminate a lot of time and re-writing from scratch.
As now may be expected, there is a problem with often and regular backups to MDV as well: If there is a power outage, as opposed to a momentary dip, and if you have left the backup cartridge in the MDV there is a good chance that the outage kapooted the cartridge as well.
Have you noticed how problems beget fixes which beget problems …! Therefore take the cartridge out after each of the often and regular backups remembering to replace before the next. As we do not have a disk drive I do not know whether the same caution may apply.
I have experienced two other types of problems one of which LOOKS like SLS. When working in QLDB with a large program and data base a call to SELECT, UPDATE or APPEND at times will produce SLS symptoms. Many the times in days long gone I thereafter reset and started over again; that is, until I accidentally stumbled upon the fix of just W A I T I N G, up to two minutes in some instances, and the program in its own sweet time continues.
I don’t know for certain what happens but guess that at certain memory-used-points Archive must re-write or re-arrange itself somehow and waiting it out works 99% of the time. To solve that problem I added a couple of dummy procedures full of REM statements to the program and when the problem occurs (always after I have modified the program) to go back into EDIT and either add to or delete a dummy, then run it and see if the wait still occurs. This cut and paste method is neither very scientific nor high tech but it does work.
The other problem occurs with QLSS: Our tax program occupies 150 sectors and during the initial LOAD, at about the 75 sector point, LOADing stops with an “Out Of Memory” error message. As our QL has a 512K external Miracle board, Out-of-Memory is simply not consistent with reality – I hesitate to call our computer a liar as I am dependent upon it and have to work with it and in my secret heart know it reads my vibes and reacts in a mean, vicious and totally amoral fashion to real and fancied slights (including calling it a liar!)
The QL Manual and the Miracle installation sheet, as far as I have ever been able to determine, are simply silent on that state of affairs – well, not exactly: The Error Handling section in Concepts does say that that message means that QDOS and/or SuperBasic has insufficient free memory which of course is what one would gather from the error report in the first place which of course is simply not true in our case. And, before I get into an endless loop, I just wish to say that the fix is simple: Press Space to get rid of the error message, then F3, (L)oad file_name again just exactly as you did at the initial start.
Strangely, once the double-LOADing is successful (which it inevitably is) a re-LOAD of the same program occurs without the interruption encountered in the initial LOADing. This impels the thought that the re-starting of the initial LOAD probably had something to do with memory re-allocation. What is puzzling is why a manual re-start is required when an automatic software re-start could have been implemented?
You might, Bill, consider christening a new column entitled QL Quirks. It just might turn into a book.
Commento: Har har! ‘ole Tex’ll get a kick outa this-un! His hide is the thickness of a smitty’s aporn, so he wont be offended. Oscar (R.O.C.) began computin in the country with a ZX-81, then a TS-1000, then a TS-2068, and a couple of X’mas trees ago his stocking had a QL in it. So, he has ‘curmudgeoned’ most of Sir Clive’s stable of critters. As he discovers something he tells us bout it with a mix of Morse Code and Texas twang. He has fun a dunning at it and we most of us enjoy deciphering the code to get at the message. Couple ‘o years past ole Tex almost left us for the happy hunting grounds of devout curmudgeons. He musta thunk that he was endowed with the ability to fly. Anyway, he crash landed on the tarmac from 12’ atop an 18 wheeler and nearly kilt hisself. Took mor’n a year of laying low letten the energy flow back inta his vittals afore he could take up curmudgeoning agin. Whether you dig his style or not there is always a tip in there for some who are streevin and strainin to learn it durn it. By the way, beginners flying lessons should start from the door steps first and graduate to higher altitudes as skills develop.
About “QL Quirks”: I do dig that family’s problem with their Apple. S.L.S. is a quirk not confined to the QL and whose genealogy traces back to Mr. Franklin’s kite flying adventure. Electricty comes and goes. When it goes, S.L.S. grabs us. Should say “when it waffles or waivers”. Funny that a respectable Engineer will neglect to account for a non-perfect world of pure sine waves, unaffected by power loading, lightening, buss switch over, neon lights switching on and off, and yes birds alighting upon the power lines.
Since Florida is where most of the birds fly for the winter, and they are always lighting upon the power lines, and that causes S.L.S. with some QL computers, I am happy to report that Dan Elliott has a guaranteed fix for the syndrome. Dan has my back up QL now to do the “Outside Power Regulator Job” on it. He says that the Power supply is so effective that one can do a quick OFF and back ON without the QL dumping. Also, an ON-OFF switch comes with the fix. So dont buy that $350 AC/DC converter, or that $900 constant AC Back Up supply. Let ole Dan do it for about $50 plus or minus a few. Dan Elliott, RR-1 Box 117, Cabool, MO 65689.
OPINION: Somebody needs to revise the Quill Proc to stop that automatic MDV save when Quill decides to do it. At least it should give you a warning and let YOU decide. This Big Bad Suprise comes when operating without extra memory and you get about three pages into a data file generation.
John, thanks for the Quirks. Dig the Header afore your letter. This could be the place to confine our varying forms of humor, as well as Quirk Quacking. You started it, and now others can join in. To Tex: I apologize for putting you under the Quirks Column. Did’ja ever learn to fly?