############################################################################## ISSUE No.9, MAY 1985. ############################################################################## CHAIRMAN & TEMPORARY EDITOR: Paul Grade, 6,Navarino Road, Worthing, Sussex. Telephnone: Worthing 207585. SOFTWARE EDITOR: Neil Scrimgeour, 125, Occupation Road, Corby, Northants. ##############################################################################
THE EDITORIAL WHINE.
Well, this month I have to wear two hats....Chairman AND Editor, and if you don't like the result,hard luck!, 'cos it's the best I can do at the moment. As most of you will know, Jeremy is unable, for personal reasons, to continue as Editor, and a replacement is urgently required, because (a). I don't want the job....it's too tempting to run the Group as a "one man band", and (b). I simply don't have the time to do both jobs properly. Before you rush (?) to volunteer, let me explain something of what the job entails:-
40% of the job is chasing up likely Members and persuading them that they
really ought to write something for publication, and more to the pint, send it
in at least two weeks before print date!. Assuming that the material arrives,
you then have to check it for accuracy and type it up again, (using whatever
formatter / processer you prefer), and save accurate "final copies" to disc (or
tape, 'tho it's very slow for this kind of work.). Having done this, you need to
format the actual Newsletter, as far as possible direct from disc/tape, the rest
using "cut and paste" methods. Meanwhile of course you will have written your
own Editorial ,and consulted with Neil and with me regarding content, special
offers, advertising, letters, queries, etc.
Having completed this task, you
then either run the copies off yourself....if you are one of the fortunate few
who have access to a pIain paper copier and can operate it "at cost", or send
the "camera ready" copy to Anne, or whoever eIse happens to be dealing with that
side of things.
Hopefully, in the unlikely event of there having been NO foul-ups, you can then relax and take it easy for thirty seconds before starting to chase up material for the NEXT issue!.
Right!...don't all rush!!!. But if any of you out there reckon that you can do the job, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SOONEST.
I don't care if you are 10 or 95...if you can do the work, then that is all that matters. You won't get paid for it at all, (any more than I do)...all you can claim are legitimate expenses such as postage, phone caIls, paper, etc. But if you have time to spare, think that you can do the job, and have advanced masochistic tendencies......Your Group Needs YOU!.
Right, that's all from me as Editor; now for a quick line or two as Chairman!!. John Symes of Microdeal asked me to give them a plug. (You'd think they'd use the one out of the bath, wouldn't you?). Anyway, in all fairness I can say that even if a lot of their programs aren't my sort of thing, they do come up with some VERY good discount offers, and some very good material, and they are one of the VERY few companies who have continued to support the Dragon from the begining, regardless of the rush of other companies to ditch the poor old beasts and turn to Commodore and Amstrad!. Microdeal also turn out a pretty good Newsletter of their own, as I'm sure you all know, and are well worth your support.
There are a lot of things that I'd like to write about at the moment, but I think that there's more than enough "Grade" in this newsletter, so I'll belt up and let you get on with reading the more interesting stuff.
Please, PLEASE, send me some material to print in the next issue, or I'll be sending out blank pages next month!!.
One last point: If you have any queries, comments, problems etc, about ANYTHING relating to the Dragon, write and let me know, or you can always phone me...if I don't know the answers I can usually put you on to someone who does.
Carry on Computing.............and be Iucky. Paul G.
For those of us fortunate enough to have both a disc drive and a printer, four programs by I.Elkington might be of interest.
[1].DISC UTILITIES
This consists of nine utilities which should prove
very useful:-
A disc directory printer; A disc reader to view every byte of
any sector of any track; Copy an entire disc to cassette;Copy a cassette to
disc; Copy a program from disc to disc (but the program must be unprotected, non
autorun, and be in machine code and load above 7000 decimal);Copy a program from
tape to tape (very similar to the disc to disc routine);Copy m/c from tape to
disc (same applies);copy m/c/from disc to tape; and finally "load print" dumps
all screen output to the printer.
[2].DATA REPRESENTATION
This either draws pie charts or three dimensional
bar graphs. The four options are as follows:-
Draw a pie chart, with data
input either through the keyboard or from disc, and draw a bar graph, using the
same two options. There is also the option of saving keyboard entered diagrams
to disc.
[3].DRAGWORD
This is a simpIe word processor. With it you can type,
print, save, load, merge, or edit a document. Minor faults are that there is no
keyboard auto-repeat, no cursor in typing mode, and no word-wrap feature as in
more expensive programs.
[4].DRAGBASE
This will store approximately 600 addresses, with all the
usuaI facilities, including add or remove an entry, view all files, or view
specified files, etc.
A lot of thought and effort has obviously been put into the content of these
programs. Each one is supplied with full, clear documentation. Two of the above
are also available on cassette (No.2 and 3). Goods are sent by return; cassettes
are 8.00 each and discs 10.00, but a discount of 35% is given if all four
programs are purchased.
Further details may be obtained from: I.EIkington,
11,Wharfdale Gardens, Baildon, Shipley, W,Yorks,BD17-6TN.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE NEED MATERIAL FROM ALL OF YOU IF THIS NEWSLETTER IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING.
Last month I was going to review J.Morrisons "River of Fire" but as I couldn't get anywhere with it I decided to leave it until this month. Well, I still got nowhere, but I don't think it's my fault!.
The story is that you have to save the inhabitants of the local hospitaI from an active volcano. The advertisment that Morrisons put out claims that the adventure is animated. Strictly speaking it is, but to give you an example, one piece of "animation" consists of a nurse tapping her finger, which is about three pixels long!!. Hot stuff, eh?!.
So animated it isn't. The advert also says that this is the best graphic adventure yet. The graphics are, shall we say, adequate, but nothing more than that. The probIems set are easy to figure out, but trying to tell your Dragon is anything but!!...,.Let me give you an example:
Your first problem is to shut off a valve in the plant room, otherwise the hospital goes up in a puff of smoke. Having found a wrench I thought I couId fix it. I tried the following words:-FIX, REPAIR, STOP, CLOSE, BREAK, OPEN, SHUT, OPERATE, SCREW, UNSCREW' HIT, KICK, and other words too numerus to mention (I've forgotten them anyway!!). Nothing worked, absolutely nowt!!. Therefore I couldn't get any further with the program and have given up!. If anyone can do better, please let me know!
In total misery I turned to the "KET TRILOGY" from Incentive which I had bought at the second 6809 show, and a total transformation occured!. The Ket Trilogy was originally released for the Spectrum, but after the success they had with Backtrack, Incentive decided to produce more programs for the Dragon (KET, and the soon to be released CONFUSION). The Spectrum version was released as three seperate programs, each costing 7.95, so at 9.95 the Trilogy must be regarded as decent value for money anyway.
Incentive have decided to use the Text screen, but they have used the orange and brown colour set which makes a nice change from the usual green screen. The descriptions of the locations are rather terse but surprisingly the program still generates a good amount of atmosphere. (WeIl, it does for me). In the first part you need to find a safe passage through the Mountains of Ket. The problems set are not very hard but they can still be quite taxing to the novice adventurer.
I have to admit that I haven't got through the mountains yet, as I've not had much time spare to play the game, but I've seen enough of the adventure to say that I like it. I haven't tried the second and third parts yet, as I don't want to spoil my enjoyment of the game, but they seem to have the same layout as the first part.
To sum up this package, at 9.95 it has got to be good value, containing three seperate adventures. Presentation of the program is good, and the sheer length of the Trilogy means that it will keep you occupied for a fair amount of time. And now for Something Completely Different!
The cricket season is upon us again, and thanks to Peaksoft all you followers of the "Sound of Leather on Willow" brigade can play the game from the comfort of your keyboard.
In the first ASCI CORNER (last September) I said that this program was the best simulation for any micro on the market. Quite a lot of people have joined us since then, so I thought that Tim Love's "CRICKET" deserves another mention. The first thing you are required to do is choose your team. There is already a current England team set in memory, but you can change this or make up your own team. The program allows you to save teams as data files, so one day you can play as England, the next as the Rochdale and District Summer League, (although the latter are probably better equiped to win!!!).
The team you play against can also be altered, and the one supplied in memory (the World XI) is pretty formidable. Next you select difficulty by the size of the pitch you decide to play on (from Village to Test standard), and then decide who will bat first. You can also select "Batting Help" which shows you where the ball is going to pitch.
You are now into the game. The scoreboard is on the Text screen and everything else is in PMODE3 and 4. The first view is a side and top one of the wicket PMODE4. You control the batsman with one joystick and position him to strike the ball. Almost any position can be obtained, bar the 'hook shot'. Once the player has hit the ball the screen changes to PMODE3 showing a top view of the field, fielders, wicket, ball, and the batsmen. You move the joystick the appropriate way to run. When the ball has been returned to the 'wickey', and you haven't been run out, the screen shows the scoreboard again, and then back to PMODE4 for the next balI. All the ways of getting out have been included, ie: stumping, hit wicket, and all the rest.
After forty overs, or before if the team has been dismissed, your innings has ended, and the opposition bat. This time the screen layout is the same, but you control the bowler instead. The joystick allows you to alter the pitch speed, and angle of delivery. When the ball is hit, and the screen changes to PMODE3, you control the fielders, who must run after the ball.
Nearly everything has been included in the program. You can hit sixes and fours, be run out, lbw, caught or bowled, and the fielding team can miss catches, bowl no-balls, and generally make a very authentic mess of things in the field. This program is great value at 7.95, and is a MUST for all cricket fans.
Neil Scrimgeour
ICE CASTLES... (Spectral / MicrodeaI).
Yet another arcade game based on
the original Pac-Man theme, although greatly improved by the transformation into
a 3-dimensional plane.
The game has an interesting array of tunnels,
staircases, and towers to negotiate in its many castle formations, plus the
usual, if not more imaginative nasties e.g. the mutant trees and the busy bees.
ControI via joystick, great sound effects, and numerous levels all go to
make this a very addictive game. Another winner from Microdeal.
ROMMEL'S REVENGE...(Design-Design).
This classic game derived from
Battlezone is another program to keep the Dragon arcade fanatic happy.
You
are in charge of an advanced battle-tank, set with the task of eliminating the
enemy, which appears in the form of tanks, super-tanks, and flying saucers!.
Five levels of play, joystick or keyboard control, good sound effects and
smooth 3-D graphics make this a great game.
Also worth a mention is the
added bonus of eight coIours in PMODE3.
SYZYGY... (Microdeal).
Microdeal's latest offering is in the form of a
3-D graphical adventure, and so far has proved to be very good.
On starting
you find yourself on board Darth Vader's battIestar, (from Starwars, as if you
didn't know!), set with the task of finding your light saber. Having found this
you must then go on to another planet to get your communicator, back then to
fight the lord and retrieve the emerald. If all of this doesn't sound too hard,
then there are many other problems to overcome. I myself have still to work out
how to get the transporter working!.............Any helpers???.
I am looking for an ATHLETYX, CUTHBERT in the COOLER, or JET SET WILLY owner
who is willing to exchange his or her game for any of the following:-
BACKTRACK, ICE CASTLES, CHAMBERS, or SYZYGY.
Telephone:- Northampton (0604)-45029. Christopher Parkinson.
THE DIRECTORY SYSTEM.
Anyone who owns a DragonDOS system will at some
time or other have saved so many programs to disc that they've ended up rather
confused as to what they all do. (Bear in mind that datafiles could well be
intermingled with these programs). This is a single directory, non-hierarchical
system. OS9 on the other hand is a dual directory hierarchical system.
The system consists of directories and files On a system like DragonDOS, programs and data are likely to be found intermixed on the same disc; with OS9 programs and data are always kept in different directories (hence "dual directory). A directory, as in DragonDOS, is simply a list of files which relates to that particular directory. An OS9 system can have not only as many directories on one disc as you wish, but can also have any number of directories within directories. If that's not clear, I'll givean example; Suppose you've filled the root directory (the root directory is just the first, or standard one - just as in DragonDOS) with about 30 files (programs), but you decide that 10 of these are all graphics demo files. You could simply make a directory called "graphics", and then copy all the 10 graphics type files into this directory. The root directory would then contain the other 20 files plus the "graphics" directory, making 21. Assuming that some of the remaining 20 original fles have something in common then you could make another directory to hold these files, and so on. Of course, if you are organised, you would have done all of this in the first place and saved yourself a lot of copying and deleting. The first directory level is called the root directory because the whole system resembles a tree with each successive branch representing a lower level directory. (I always tend to think of an upside down tree, for some reason).! Hence in the example above you could make still further directories within the directories you have just created. The system very much resembles a family tree with each mother representing a directory and all childless offspring and men representing files (to take a rather sexist view)!. A very similar relationship also exists in regard to file and directory names i.e the same name can exist in different directories (generations) but not in the same directory (chiIdren).
As there is no lower limit to directory levels, you could use a directory 20 levels down if you really wanted. The disc space is used on a first come first served basis, and is not shared out evenly between all the different directories, so this hypothetical directory 20 Ievels down could, for example, contain over 100k of files.(Any given directory can contain any number of files, or none at all).
You're probably thinking that this is all very well, but how does the system know which directory you're using. This is accomplished by the idea of the pathlist, which is nothing more than a list of directories, starting at the root directory and ending with the file you want to read or write. e.g
'/D0/personal/letters/address/fred'
Clearly, having to type such a long list every time you want to access a directory at such a depth or lower is going to become rather tedious. For this reason several commands are available which allow the user to work from the new directory without having to specify the pathlist every time. The command CHD (CHange Data) is in fact the most commonly used command within OS9, and is used to move your work area to whichever directory is specified. It is important to realise that this new directory now becomes a sort of root directory in its own right and lower level directories can be accessed without having to specify a full pathlist every time.
A very useful command for accessing directories at higher leve1s is the '.' format. OS9 always knows where you are in the system, even if you don't!,so if you enter 'CHD..' you will be moved up one directory level. (Yes, that's right, 'CHD .' doesn't move you anywhere!). In fact, this shorthand format is very useful for specifying a file in a higher directory without having to change your working directory or typing a full pathlist. e.g. typing '../albert' saves having to type '/D0/personal/letters/aIbert' (assuuming that 'albert' resides in the 'letters' directory of the previous exampIe.
Much of what has been said about the data directory could just as easily be applied to the execution directory. Of course, it's very likely that all the programs you are ever likely to call up reside in just one directory - the command (CMDS) directory - so you're not likely to want to change directories anyway. Using the CHX command you could in fact specify any directory as the execution directory, although it's wise to make sure it contains at least a few program modules first!.
One point worth noting is the ability to revert to a single directory system by one single act of specifying the execution and data directories to be one and the same. (NOT recommended).
Impressive as the foregoing may seem, it is the one area which attracts the greatest criticism from opponents of OS9. The principal criticism is that while a comprehensive directory system is fine for say a 10M hard disc system, it's wasted on a meagre 175K fIoppy drive. It's easy to see their reasoning, but my view is that a tree-Iike structure is perfectly usable with only 175K.
Well, that concludes the second article for any of you out there who are thinking of taking the OS9 plunge, and for all you seasoned OS9 users...you can stop groaning now!.
If anyone wants to have a discussion about OS9 they can always ring me on 0202-722599.
Jason Shouler
I have been requested (ordered!) by the Editor to produce an article for the Newsletter!. In affable tones he said "You're pretty good at messing around with computers...why don't you write an article?". "I'm awfuIly busy at the moment...I don't think that I cou.....". "DO IT, or the heavies are on the way round!". Well, if it's put that way, how could I refuse, so here goes..........
First of all the Dragon's colours, or perhaps I ought to say lack of them?...Do not dispair, there are many more than the nine (boring) ones you were told about in the manual. I have had over sixty so far, and I'm still going!!....All pure, smooth colours. If you want to count the ones similar to "Crazy Painter", then the number exceeds one hundred!.I COULD tell you...those who do not know....how to access them, but I shan't, well, not just yet, as I want to get them into a routine so that they can be called from within a program, as per the normal colours. So please be patient.
Next...I still get annoyed with the magazines that do not, or never have,
acknowleged the Dragon as a computer that rivals others like the BBC, Commodore,
etc. Mind you, I can understand it, to a degree, when you get a magazine
especially for the Dragon printing Iistings for pretty patterns, and reviewing
"new" programs that are over a year old!!!
> With bad publicity like
that, how can anyone expect the Dragon to be taken seriously, even if it does
surpass the other computers that are on the market?! This may appear biased,
which I suppose it is to a degree, but the fact still remains that when you
weigh up each computer on its merits, (which are too many to put in this
article), the Dragon still comes up trumps. The other thing that doesn't help
the Dragon is its reintroduction into the UK at a ludicrous price from
Compusense! Will they NEVER learn?. I suppose that greed and stupidity have a
lot to do with it, especially as Boots (and Comet) are or were still selling the
Dragon 64 for 75.00!!!!!!.
Well, I hope that this article pleases He Who Must Be Obeyed, and keeps the heavies (if not the occasional wolf) from my door. If more of you readers longer. Go on, be daring, you don't even need to use joined up writing!!. However, if I get a chance to write another article, it will probably be on some machine code routines that you may find handy, so watch this space!!.
For now...GOOD BYE!..............................John Cox.
The following letter arrived last week from Jim Bell of 186,Biddlestone Road, Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne, NE6-5SP....Phone:-091-265-1944.
Dear Dragon User,
I thought your club members might be interested in details of Coco/BBS, a Bulletin Board for Dragon and Coco users. It's been running since Christmas, and is proving to be very popular, and I think, very useful to users of these machines
The full range of BBS facilities is provided - message section, download, upload, etc, as well as programming advice and product news. Since decent quality communications software is about to appear from firms such as Cotswold.....(yes, I heard that rumour too, months ago, but I've seen no sign that it's any nearer arriving!...Paul G.)... as well as reasonab]y priced modems such as the Demon, I think that we may see a lot more interest in this side of the hobby.
Coco/BBS uses a 64k Coco with twin discs, and will shortly be running in parrallel with a Dragon 64 under Dragon DOS. The combination promises to be pretty powerfuI!.
It's 300/300 baud, and the standard seven bit format. On line time at the moment is 24hrs. weekends (from 10pm on Friday night to 10am on Monday morning) and 10pm to 10am Tuesday to Friday. The telephone number is as above.
If you would like more information on available comm. software for these machines by all means give me a ring on the same number whenever the Board isn't using it. A Iot of Coco owners in particular are under the impression that they've got to use Tandy's RS232 cartridge, which at seventy pounds is an expensive misunderstanding.
I hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely, Jim Bell.
Editor's note: Personally I can't afford to treat myself to a modem at the moment, but if any of you are interested why not give Jim a caIl?. Please let me know if you try his Board....we would very much appreciate an article on it (or any other BB) for the Newsletter. P.G.
I've had severaI letters lately from Members wanting to know various points
concerning writing Graphics routines using Assembly language.
Personally, I
don't know anything worth knowing about graphics...even from Basic, so if any of
you out there are even mildly proficient at Assembler Graphics, and have time to
answer a few letters, please let me know and I'll foreward the queries on to
you.
Paul Grade
Know any firms who might give us discounts?
If so, please ask them to get in touch with us!
My impression of the Second 6809 show was that it was not so well supported,
either by patrons or exhibitors as was last year's. I went on the Saturday but
did manage to see the people I had gone specially to visit.
For example,
there was Dealer Deals, who were selling their very good "Megarule" for 1.99,
which is very good for reading those program listings in Dragon User, who were
also supporting the show with back issues of their magazine.
Was it my
imagination or was the Tandy stall smaller? Still, since I take it that all
readers of this newsletter will be Dragon owners, perhaps we don't mind too
much!.
I had spoken to Mr J.E.Anderson of Andtek Data Design, who had two
systems of FLEX running so that I could compare them and ask as many questions
as I wanted, even if some of the answers made my mind go into Mega Operation!
(i.e. my eyes glaze over! If you are interested in upgrading into Flex then I
would recommend that you look closeIy at what Mr Anderson has on offer.
Two
of the bigger stands and supporters of the Dragon were Compusense and Cumana.
You wiIl probably know that Compusense are now the exclusive distributors of the
Dragon, with 64's for 169.00, and sight of the Dragon 200. Let's hope that they
can do a better job of marketing than Dragon Data did. Who knows, we may even be
able to get back at the BBC, and 70,000+ Dragon Users can't all be wrong can
they?.
Cumana were selling their excellent Disc Drives, but they are now
having to look for a new controller, Premier having gone down, which is a shame
because the Premier operating system was very good.
The one sour note for me
was, once again, the attitude of Microdeal. I understand that they are in
business to make money, but then so are some of their customers, and I find the
way they treat their customers, and the way they talk to them, rude and cavalier
in the extreme. Even when he's not, the customer is very often, if not always,
right. I have to say that it will be a long time before I buy anything from
Microdeal.
Altogether it was quite a good show, and it's nice to know that
someone out there still loves us.
Anne Milstead
NOTE: Cumana now have a new Dragon O/S cartridge, which is 100% Dragon DOS
compatible, but has a coupIe of extra commands. They have promised to let us
have one for review shortly.
I dunno what the arguement with Microdeal was
all about, but if John Symes would like to give us HIS side of it, we'll print
it.
Paul G.
Eurohard seem to have forgotten that WE are the established Dragon
market....or it may be that they've been misinformed by someone???...but in any
event, we've written to them twice now, and been pointedly ignored.
How
about ALL OF US writing to them individually, and demanding some information and
action?. Give it a try, it's worth the cost of a stamp, and you don't HAVE to be
polite. We're entitled to some consideration, even from a load of ill mannered
Spanish peasants, so remind them that without US there would BE no Dragons.
FOR SALE:
EX GAMING MACHINE MICRO PROCESSING UNITS.
These are mainly
8060 and 6802 CPU's and most have built in power supplies and sound boards.
Also available: various video game logic boards' EPROMS, etc.
All of the
above are exceptionally cheap....well below production cost, and are ideal for
anyone interested in hardware experiments and / or constructing Dragon
"add-ons". For further details please telephone 0463-220174.
FOR SALE
TANDY 4 COLOUR GRAPHIC PRINTER. (CGP-115). 71.00 including 10.00
worth of pens and 5.00 worth of paper and postage/packing.
CENTRONICS lead
for the above... 9.00.
Please contact:- D.Bateman, Orchard House, Cleator
Moor, Cumbria. CA25-5LN.
WANTED
Keyboard overlay, plus any information relating to FANTASY FLIGHT
(Cablesoft).
Please telephone:- R.J.Rolph on 0525-376698.
VIDIPIX SPECIAL OFFER.
Vidipix are making a special offer to Group
Members this month:-
JIGSAW (A completely new game for the Dragons) is on
offer at 3.50 plus 50p postage and packing.
Those of you who were at the
Show will know what a good and original program this is.
Orders to:-
VIDIPIX. 125, Occupation Road, Corby, Northants.
5.25" FLOPPY DISCS.
We can still offer you top quality discs at the price
of grotty ones:-
SS/DD Soft or hard sector.......usually 22.00.......Group
price 14.50.
DS/DD Soft or hard sector.......usually 27.00.......Group price
15.50.
or we can get 80 track discs (OK for DragonDOS) equally cheaply:
SS/DD 80 track..................usually 42.00.......Group price 22.40.
DS/DD 80 track..................usually 46.50.......Group price 24.00.
All prices are inclusive of postage but PLUS VAT @ 15%.
We also have a few hundred labels, the same type as used on the envelope that
this Newsletter arrived in. Single column tractor feed self adhesive.
3.00
per 500 inclusive of postage and vat. or 5.75 per 1000.
This is well below
the usual price for quantities of less than 8000, so buy them while you have the
chance!.
Orders for discs and labels to Paul Grade, Cheques made payable to
the Group, please.
MONITORS....Hi-Res, ex News agency green screens.
We have a limited
number of 12" green screen monitors on offer. These aren't the usual "uncased
mysteries", they are very neat aluminium cased professional units, no bigger
than the average portable television. Some of them have very slight "screen
burns", but these do NOT affect the display in any way, and I've checked them
all personally, and tested them on my own Dragons.
Price to you...25.00 plus
carriage (which depends on how you want them sent!).
Also available are some
teleprinter KEYBOARD units, which consist of a very nice "QWERTY" board, plus a
row of function keys and numerics pad.
The boards have their own circuitry,
which can be adapted to just about anything you feel like attempting, plus a
fully stabalised 5v power supply built in.
Price to you.....5.00 each plus
carriage.....the power supply alone is worth three times that!!.
If you want a monitor or keyboard, please phone Paul on Worthing 207585, and
we can arrange how you want them despatched. But please note, if you want 'em,
don't take too long thinking about it, 'cos I've sold three this evening!!!.
If all goes well, we may be able to get you an offer on some cheap disc
drives and modems shortly. I'll let you know as soon as there's something
definite.
Ever feel you need more file space on your 32?...Try using PCLEAR0....just
POKE25,6 which ought to give you 31215 bytes to play with.
Only snag is that
it doesn't work with a DOS on line, and must be entered in direct mode, followed
by "NEW".
Want to dump your disc directory to printer?....just POKE111,254:DIR.
To relocate m/c programs from disc type LOAD (or RUN)"NAME.BIN",required address.
To relocate from tape try the following:-
First find the NORMAL addresses
of the program, then having done this, add 65536 to the address that you want to
relocate to, minus the usual start address.
Having done this, CLEAR 400 (or
whatever string space is needed), at the required start address, then
CLOADM"NAME",result of calculation.
It is advisable to rePEEK to check the
new addresses for future reference.
TAPE HEADER MODIFIERS.
If you're having loading troubles from tape, try
the following:-
Before saving to tape, POKE &H745B,255, or if this
doesn't help, POKE144,1 which will raise the output signal level.
Alternatively, POKE&H746B,128 which will write a longer header. If this
STILL doesn't do the trick, try poking different values between 1 and 255.
DRAGON64 only.
You can force a coldstart from 48k mode without
disturbing any program that happens to be in the lower 32k of RAM by POKEing
113,0 and pressing RESET.
Want to slow down the scroll rate?
POKE359,60...(359,57 to return to normal).
Well, I guess that's about all we have space for this month. Perhaps not a
very balanced mixture, but it's the best I could do in the time
available.....the last issue being over two weeks late, I only had two weeks
instead of the usual four in which to chase you up for material and get the lot
typed up ready for copy.
I'll try to do better for next month, but I really
DO have to depend on YOU...ALL OF YOU, for material, so please, even if you
don't think you are in the professional writer class; IT DOESN'T MATTER.....just
write SOMETHING, PLEASE!!!!!!!!. I don't care what it is... it can be reviews,
articles, moans about a firm or the computer industry in general, hints on what
to do if blue smoke comes out of the back of your Dragon...(Phone insurance
company and increase premium, then extinguish fire??), but please write, OK?.
Don't forget, if you have any Dragon problems or questions, you can always write or phone me...if I don't know the answer I'll find someone who does!.
Issue nine...May 1985.....Paul Grade. Worthing 207585.