Mike,
Thank you very much for that info you sent me. If it weren’t for you, I
wouldn’t be pulling my hair out, right now!
Actually, without your help, this project would never have gotten off the
ground. I fully understand (at least I think I do) the compression process now.
I am currently in the process of trying to exterminate a particularly virulent
bug in the prog
ram. (Computer crashes and burns… Does beautiful random graphics. Probably
screwed up the stack, somewhere…) It was so frustrating that I took a week
off from this project just to get a fresh perspective. I’ll keep you updated
when I make any si
gnificant progress. (I’ll also upload the finished product, if it ever gets
that far!)
Later…

>Gonzo<

Pete,
You are absolutely correct! I am working on converting Rascan images to GIF
format.
In case you didn’t know, I am a regular “visitor” of Brian’s BBS here in San
Diego. (As a matter of fact, I purchased OS-9 Level 2 from him.) Brian goes
through a laborious process of converting HSCREEN 4 to CME to VEF and then
finally to GIF. I w
ant to work on a process that goes directly from memory to disk.
I am currently fumigating a nasty bug in the program (computer ends up in
La-la land). I’ll be sure to upload the program (if and) when I get it running
100%.
Later…

>Gonzo<

DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY NEW
ADAPTATIONS TO THE PLUG ‘N POWERMODULE SO THAT IT WORKS WITH THECOCO3? IF SO,
PLEASE REPLY TO
PACRUISER
THANKS!

Sorry it took me so long to reply, but thanks for your info on the view master
program.

Ron

As far as Game Point is concerned… this Christmas will mark the beginning
of a series of full 512K based products. Our first release is a new epic
space arcade game called Millenium. The project has been over a year in the
making. Every conceiveable detail has been added to the game, including
particle matter (dust) which falls off your ship as you begin hyper driving.

Millenium includes a full audio on board computer system which will keep
you abreast to your status and allow you to communicate with the friends and
foes that await for you on your quest of interstellar space trading.

Watch for this and other CoCo 3 products comming this Christmas.

Pete Ellison
Game Point Software

Hi Glen,
When I said “Rat” , I meant the program not the mouse. When I load and exec
the program it seems to run but all I get is a black screen and th disk keeps
spinning. Then when I hit reset, it gives me the same funny looking screen tht
it did when it did w
ork, then it goes to the standard 32 col. coco screen. So it looks like it it
loading and exec’ing but hangs up somewhere in the process. Well I’m on my way
to work right now, So talk at youyu later…BYE…
>>>>>FRED< <<<<

After months of frustration using C-SEE to load 16-level pictures
for viewing, I have discovered the key to loading the files about 4
times faster. First, make a BACKUP of your C-SEE disk, to be used for
viewing purposes only. From your BACKUP disk, LOADM”C-SEE.
Now POKE into the following addresses the number 217 ($D9):

3761 ($0EB1)
5554 ($15B2)
5666 ($1622)
5960 ($1748)
6038 ($1796)
12447 ($309F)

In addition, if you might want to poke the proper values for RGB or
CMP use in addresses 12288 ($3000) thru 12291 ($3003):

POKE Address RGB CMP
————- ——– ——–
12288 ($3000) 0 ($00) 0 ($00)
12289 ($3001) 7 ($07) 16 ($10)
12290 ($3002) 56 ($38) 32 ($20)
12291 ($3003) 63 ($3F) 48 ($30)

After you have POKEd all the addresses with the proper values,
SAVEM”C-SEE”,&HE00,&H3FFF,&HE00

This information is valid only for CoCo3, with C-SEE configured to
run in the high-speed mode. These pokes disable the slowdown for disk
I/O. I have tested it under RSDOS and it works quite well for
loading, but I would *NOT* use this poked version for saving files!!
I hope this helps others as impatient as I…

STEVEPDX

I’M BACK. I EVEN COPIED THE ORIGINAL DISK AGAIN AND CONFIGED IT, ALL TO
NO AVAIL. I ENTERED 2 LINES AND WENT BACK TO THE END OF THE FIRST LINE
AND TRIED TO INSERT SOMETHING AND GOT HIT WITH A “MEMORY IS NEARLY FULL!
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO UNDO” MESSAGE. WHAT AN INSULT. THEN I LOADED
THEIR SAMPLE FILE AND TRIED TO DELETE A RULER—ZAPPP!

GUESS IT’S TIME TO GET ON MY KNEES TO COLORWARE AND APOLOGIZE FOR THE
ANGRY LETTER….THINK IT WILL COST ME MUCH MORE?

FINALLY we’ve got a GIF convertor for RS-DOS on here!!! It’s about time..
I’ve tried it out quite a bit, and it works great! Thanks for the upload, Rich!
Mike

Marty, I have an interesting question for you and the other users. I am now
writing a program, and one of the string veriables gets changed. Here is how
it goes; First i do an input under ‘A$’. Then to limit the size of the input,
I do an: ‘A$=LEFT$(A$,12)’. Later I print the value of A$ on the HSCREEN.
What I have found is if I do just an for the input, a ’3′ gets printed
on the HSCREEN. If I input a string, however, there is no change. Between the
input, the LEFT$, and the HPRINT, the is nothing in the program that does
anything with A$. Do you have any ideas??? This does not interfear with
the program, A$ only stores a player name. I just want to know why it changes.
Fred.

I’ve got my MAX-10 upgrade on order too so you’ll understand my concern.

Does your COCO3 have 512k?? I will be VERY unhappy if you say yes as I
wrote a little letter complaining about the $29.95 ugrade charge seing
e seeing
that the original only cost $69.95 IF you already have another CW product
-COCOMAX3. Very good products ….but… -Ron Potter

Out of curiosity.. are you using a 128K or a 512K CoCo?

—marty

Does anyone know of a any program to view RAT picture files?..that, in my
opiniom, is why the RAT will continue to be Second-Class…it maybe a great
program, but if other people cant view the pictures? what good is it?

Also, can window master run programs that wont run in its environment?..like
can I run Ultimaterm by selecting Ultimaterm in a Dir and have it load up..
?
(sorta like the way you run VDG programs on M-V?)

—Ezra

Windows seems to offer an interesting environment but it wipes out my Ados
that I love so well and all the handy commands and functions that I burned into
an eprom. I would like to explore some of the possibilities of Windows and
would like to open a discussion about this. JBURKE

WHY DO THEY CONTINUE TO MAKE IT SO DIFFICULT TO USE THEIR PROGRAMS ? I guess
we know the reason but I hesitate to use a utility that requires me to change
my hardware when I have others that will work without all that…..
Who can discuss “Windows”. I haven’t done much yet with this program but
it does seem to have some potential…?

SIR
I TRIED TO FIND YOUR CLIPART LISTED IN JULY RB ON HERE AND COULDNT
I WOULD LIKE TO GET IN CONTACT WITH YOU IF POSSIBLE …. I LOVE CLIPART AND
WOULD LIKE TO CORRRESPOND WIYH YOU…. I HAVE HAD LOTS OF TROUBLE DL ON DELPHI
AND AAM ABOUT FED UP…..PLEASE WRITE ME…..G LOCKER ROUTE 9
BOX 492 BENTON, KY 42025 THANKS

DOES ANYBODY KNOW OF A UTILITY FOR CONVERTING COCO3 GRAPHICS TO RLE OR GIF
FORMAT AND FROM RLE OF GIF TO COCO3 FORMAT?

THANKS
LARRY

Hi All!

I would like to transfer some of my newer COCO3 cartridges to disk.
They are: THEXDER, SPRINGSTER and SHANGHAI.

I used the THEX.TXT patch for Thexder, but when I EXEC the disk
copy I created, my ship always turns into an unrecognizeable blip
when I go forward or backward!!!

I reattempted the ENTIRE process of transferring THEXDER 5 times.
Same results each time.
I never got any error messages, and things seemed to go just as
advertised.

Is this just the price we all must pay, or did I mess something up?

Anyway, I have nothing to transfer the other two and I know VERY
little about BASIC, so I don’t know how to convert the THEX.TXT
patch to something for the others.

Perhaps someone could explain to me how to find the EXEC address
on these cartridges, and what it takes to move them to disk?

I am open to experimentation if anyone has suggestions. I just
don’t know where to start.

-Bob Mahoney.

David, I just wanted to extend a heart THANK YOU for the View Master program
you uploaded to the CoCo3 graphics Database. This is something that has been
needed for a very, very long time and it’s great to have you share it with all
of us, instead of selling it, which I’m sure you COULD have done. Thanks
again and I hope to talk to you again sometime..
STEVEPDX

Doug, I know of no way to un-convert the CM3 pix to 16-level
format, and if there were such a way to do it, it would be a waste of
time as all the high resolution of the 16-level original was lost when
it was originally converted. Also, the ONLY decent print print
routine I know of for the 16-level pix is contained in Micro Works’
digitizer software, C-SEE 3.3. Which reminds me, we should all start
a letter-writing campaign to The Micro Works, urging them to release a
viewer to the public. I have spoken to them a couple of times about
it and they are “considering” releasing the digitizer software only
for a small charge. I think if enough folks said WE WANT TO LOOK AT
YOUR PICTURES(!), they might hurry things up and make a definite
decision….
STEVEPDX

Whoops! Had my buffer closed when it should have been open and I
lost my MAIL messages from those who wrote me! To whomever it was
that could not find VIEW256, at the CoCo SIG main prompt, type “data
coco”; At the next prompt, type “search”; at the keyword prompt,
type “view256″; at the next prompt, type “narrow”; at the next, type
“utilities”; at the next, type “read”. The first 2 or 3 files are
other stuff — just hit ENTER at the “Action>” prompt until you come
across the VIEW256 utility. I knew it was there somewhere! Let me
know if you get it okay…
Stevepdx

Is there one? I have access to many MS-DOS picture files, and I wanted to know
if there is some utility to view those files on the Coco.

—-Lance Orner

LOOKING THOUGH THE NEW CATALOG FROM RADIO SHACK I FOUND SOME GREAT NEW SOFTWARE
COMMING OUT, FOOTBALL II WITH A IN THE HELMET VIEW, SLIPHEED, A COCO 2 JET
GAME, THE LAST NINJA, YOU MUST SAVE THE WORLD GAME, BUT WOULD I LIKE TO KNOW IS
THAT ALL THE SOFTWARE
SEEMS TO BE COMMING ON ROM PAKS NOW, WOULDN’T BE NICE TO HAVE THEM COME ON
DISK?

To those who have written me, I have not been here for quite some time, and
that is the reason why you haven’t heard from me. Tras, OS9KID, Wheeljimmer,
et.al., thanks for writing and I hope to get back to you soon! I’m kind of in
a financial pinch at the moment and won’t be here too often, but eventually, I
*WILL* get back to you! JBURKE and DANWILLI, please leave me an address I can
write to direct. T
hanx much! And by the way, David Mills, where did you disappear to!?!?!?
STEVEPDX (D.S. Ricketts)

An easy way to turn off any ON ERR GOTO’s is to simply use the CLEAR
statement. I found out by accident that any ON ERR GOTO’s must FOLLOW
any CLEAR statements, or the ON ERR GOTO gets wiped out.

….Roger

We’re looking for an artist to help in creating a graphics adventure for the
CoCo 3.

If you’re interested in getting fame, fortune, and glory – and the chance of
having YOUR artwork in every
Tandy store in the nation,
please give me a call!

516-424-2298 (Day or Eve)

Or, send an artwork sample and information on how to reach to you:

ColorVenture

11 Prospect Drive South

Huntington Station, NY 11746-2922

Help!
Ive heard from different sources that it is possible to access a higher
resolution on the coco3 than that of 640×225?
ive been able to get 1024×225 using the horizontal offset reg, $ff9f, but
thats not what im looking for. Higher vertical resolution is what im after?
is it possible??
any help appreciated.
rob.

I AM LOOKING FOR INFO ON HOW CM3 PIX ARE STORED/COMPRESSED UNDER RS DOS AND
HOW RAT PIX ARE STORED/COMPRESSED UNDER RS DOS SO THAT I MIGHT TAKE A SHOT
AT WRITING A VIEWER FOR THESE TWO PIX TYPES UNDER OS-9 LEVEL 2.
I GET A LOT OF UPLOADS TO THE BBS I RUN UNDER OS:9…AND IT IS GETTING TO BE A
PAIN TO
REBOOT TO RSDOS AND SEE WHAT IS BEING UPLOADED TO ME AND THEN RE-BOOTING TO
OS9 TO PUT THE FILES IN MYHY DOWNLOAD DIRS.
ANY HELP U CAN GIVE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
I HEARD THE AUTHOR OF CM3 IS ON THIS SIG BUT I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH HIS TITLE?
IF U KNOW IT I CAN SEND REQUEST DIRECTLY TO HIM/THEM/HER?

it’s in the coco 3 graphic library >>>>somewhere< << i think cocomax 3 was one
of hte key words . i’ll go look if i can find it quick and get back to you

COULD SOMEONE BE SO KIND AS TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY ADDRESSES FOR ONE TO SAVE
THE TOP 1/4 OF A PMODE4 SCREEN TO DISK? MY VERY ORGANIZED DESK (PLEASE NOTE THE
SARCASM) HAS ONCE AGAIN SLOWED DOWN MY ATTEMPT TO PROGRAM…
THANX.
-MIKE

Folks,
I am trying to locate the file formats, or technical descriptions, of the
following COCO3 graphics: CM3, MGE, RAT. The reason is that a local author
of a graphics editor for MSDOS systems is willing to add them to the 35 or so
he already sup
alled OPTIKS and is being written by Keith Graham of
Rockland county, New York.
thanks,
:::Brian McElroy

(1) I’ve downloaded the BALL programs you refer to, and had not
trouble at all getting them to run.

What terminal program are you using?

Did you use X modem or Y modem protocol?

What computer do you have? With what equipment?

(2) Regarding your request to the general public to download
and send to you the BALL and other programs from the
Data Base here:

I fear that, although you may not realize it, you are
soliciting software PIRACY by asking that. For that reason,
I have removed from public view that request.

You see, with the exception of the very few programs here
that explicitly proclaim themselves Public Domain in the
descriptor or in their documentation, almost all of
the software in the data bases is copyrighted, and by
law may NOT be shared without the express consent of
Delphi or of the author of the software.

Thus, it is a violoation of the copyright laws for you
to solicit, and for some one else to comply with that
solicitation, software from our data bases to be
send by mail.

As I said, most of the time when folks make such requests
we find that they simply do not REALIZE what they are asking.
So, we certainly bear you no ill will. We merely wish you to
become aware of the situation.

I and other CoCo SIG Delphi staff stand ready to help
you successfully download material.

It will help US help YOU if you tell us more about
exactly what you are doing and what sort of software
and hardware you are using.

Note, too, that we have extensive essays on HOW to DOWNLOAD
using X modem in the HELP section here. Just type HELP
at the CoCo SIG prompt, then find the file there (one of the
last in that section) on HOW to DOWNLOAD using X modem.

—marty

+++++FOR SALE+++++

CANON PJ1080a COLOR INK JET PRINTER!

Anyone interested in buying an ink jet printer? Comes complete (excluding
printer cable due to the printer is compatible with all computers) with
users manual, fresh ink packs (additional packs available from Radio Shack)

This unit is in EXCELLENT condition. Make offer. Will be shipped anywhere
in the U.S. via UPS ground upon receipt of your money order. I guarentee
that this printer is in excellent condition and in excellent operating
condition also.

If you own an IBM or compatible, I will include screen print software
that will generate over 300 colors on the printer.

Please make an offer today! I have no need for this unit at the time and
would like another coco owner get excellent use out of this outstanding
printer. We can discuss any other matters that you have a concern with
over the phone to verify any deal. MAKE YOUR OFFER SOON! This ad has been
posted on many BBS’S and other networks.

Thank you
Craig Luecke
Washington, D.C.

Can someone help with a good user friendly edt/asm for the coco3?Whats the best
or whats the one for a coco3?
THANKS
STEVENM(STEVE MORRISON)

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE CHEMICAL IS THAT IS IN THOSE INK SPOOLS THAT WILL
ALLOW YOU TO MAKE IRON ON TRANSFERS WITH YOUR COCO?
I AM WONDERING IF JUST MIXING SAY 1 OR 2 CHEMICLAS WITH THE CGP220 INK JET
PAKS WILL ALLOW U DO DO COLOR TRANSFERS FROM YOUR SCREEN DUMPS????

I’ve looked all over for a utility to convert from CM3 format to MGE.
Does anyone know of such a utility and how I can get hold of it?
Thanks.
Dick Bland

Marty, I was wondering if the PTC64 printer controller on sale at RS will work
for printing graphics. If so how do you get it in graphics mode or what ever.
Thanks Bernie

Dear Marty,

Do you have any info on the “Ordered Dither” technique
used in the Micro Works’ C-See software? I am needing to
reproduce this exact effect in a 256 X 256 .PIX and can’t quite
figure it out. I think it is roughly like this: Each 2 pixel X
2 pixel block is examined for brightness, and the darkest pixel
is then kicked up a notch. Or perhaps the lightest pixel is
darkened. I’m not even sure that the “Ordered Dither” block
size is 2 X 2.

My ML subroutine successfully loads in and decodes the raw
data from disk. The resulting picture looks reasonably good,
but, without further “dithering,” the quality still falls short
of Erik Gavriluk’s viewing utility or the C-See software viewer
itself. Can you help me, Marty? I am just sitting here
dithering my thumbs. — David Mills

Can any body help me with a little problem I have with the CoCO 3 Graphics
database? Ican’t tell with the pictures whether or not you need special
software to view the graphics. Do you need special software, or
if not, how do you view them?

Thanks,
Jeff Lathan

What gives??? My CC3 is giving me problems. Hope somebody can help.
Every time I load a program from disk, I get sytax errors in nonexistant lines.
When I list the line, I come up with a blank. Also, I have been having syntax
errors in lines like 12288, when my program doesn’t even go that high. Is some-
thing wrong with my CC3, or is it my disk drive? HELP…!

I’m still looking for a backup CGP220 JBURKE…John C. Burke…38699
Greenwich Cir. Fremont, Ca. 94536

Is it possible to use (get) more than 7932 bytes that can be used to HGET
things in BASIC? I am writing a program that needs to get 8 things which each
need 1357 bytes. This is much help to users of BASIC using HSCREEN2/

–=>Jon RUHNOW

Greg,

Gallery is a fine program for viewing Color Max type graphics
files.However, I have one suggestion. Although it has a problem
with taking a directory of the disk in drive0 only, while
displaying one picture, you can change disks and when it read the
directory again, it picks up the other disk. My problem is, what
about the back side of the disk? I use ADOS with ds disks. Color
Max Deluxe works fine in this respect. Gallery does not. Any possiblilty
in an upgrade?!?!

at the program neededthe Colorware
HiRes module, as CoCo Max did and they also through in a device they called
the “clicker” that has to be plugged into the Cass. I/O. This seems to be
a surperflous device since any key click could be sent in the normal manner
through the speaker. I expect that the idea is to make CoCoMax or Max-10
incompatible with the RS interface. I look forward to Alan DeKok’s patch
for this one as he did in the original CoComax.
jburke

Hey gang!

Sometime in the (near???) future a new (even though a lot of people have
known about it for a long time!) program will hit the shelves at Radio Shack.
Its called Alternate Reality, The City, and I must say that it is an
EXCELLENT role playing game (I bought a copy straight from the company), with 1
major flaw; It was written for the CoCo 2!
That discovery was a MAJOR disappointment. It really is a good game though.
In fact its the best game I’ve seen on the CoCo2 in a LONG time! But I’m
afraid that it just wasn’t designed to be run off of a 4 color system! The
biggest problem with playing it is that on the CM-8 then 2 color display (no
artifact colors) is close to impossible to figure out.
I do highly suggest this game to any CoCo 1/2 owner and even to the CoCo 3
owners,
let’s just hope that Tandy pushes for a CoCo 3 version, which would really be
DEVASTATING!

..ERIC…

HELLO EVERY ONE I HADE A NICE TIME AT THE FEST! MET A LOT OF NICE PEOPLE I
KNOW A LOT OF YOU DONT GET TO GO TO THE FEST SO I HAE UPLOADED 7 ARCED FILES
EACH CONTAINING 4 DS69B 16 LEVEL PIX GOT JUST ABOUT EVERY ONE FROM FALSOFT!
THAT INCLUEDS LAWNY FALKS
WIFE IN FACT SHE WAS MY BEST SUBJECT SINCE SHE WAS AT THE TICET BOOTH ALMOST
ALLTHE TIME THE LIGHTING WAS GRATE I GOT 4 GOOD SHOTS OF HERE!
AND I HAVE A FEALING THAT AT THE NEXT FEST SHE WILL BE TAKING SHOTTS OF ME BUT
IT WONT BE WITH A CAMRA…ALSO NOW YOU ALL HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE WHOE GETS MOST
OF YOUR MONE WHEN YOU CALL DELPHI BECAUSE KEP THE VICE PRESEDENT OF VIDEO TEX
INC. HAS BEN DIGITIX
ZED DOWN LOAD IT AND THROW DARTS AT IT!…JUST KIDING!
O AT THE FEST I FOUND OUT THAT PHOTOGREPHER AT FALSOFT IS CAMREA SHY!
YES..WHEN I WENT TO GET A SHOT OF HIM HE STARTED TO WALK AWAWY…
P.S. MARTY I GOT YOU TO BUT NOT THE SHOT YOU POSEED FOR IT GOT ERASED !
SORRY BUT I STILL GOT GOOD SHOT OF YOU AT YOUR SIMANAR.
JIM AND MARTY I WILL BE SEENDING YOU BOOTH A COPY OF MY RAINBOW FEST VIDEO I
HAVE A COPY READ FOR BOTH OF YOU PLUS A COPY FOR FALSOFT READY TO GO! JUST GOT
TO RAP IT UP …SPEAKING OF RAPPING IT UP I MUST END THIS MESSAGE BECAUS IF I
DONT GET OF SOON I WON
T BE ABEL TO PAY THE BILL DONT THINK I WILL BE AT THE PRENCTEN FEST BUT I WILL
BE BACK AT THE CHICAGO FEST SEE YOU ALL THER SOON! BYE!

HAVING A PROBLEM WITH DESKMATE 3. CANNOT
GET THE ICON BAR TO COME UP. WHENEVER I
ENTER ALT(*) THE MAIN MENU RE-BOOTS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

THANKS..RAY

Glad you got the color composite to work at last! Glad I was able
to be of help.

—marty

IS THERE A WAY TO FIX GAMES THAT
ARE BLACK AND WHITE ON THE
COCO 3, THAT WOULD DISPLAY
THOSE PMODE 4 SCREENS IN REAL
COLORS ON THE COCO 3?? IT WOULD
LOOK A LOT BETTER AND PLEASE
MORE PEOPLE!!!
THANKS A LOT!!

DON,

I recently purchased “The Rat” from Diecom Products. I have tried to download
some graphics pictures from Delphi some have worked, some didn’t. I have a
COCO3, 2 disk drives and am using Mikeyterm.

When Mikeyterm asks how I want it saved, would I save all graphics pictures in
machine language, ASCII data, binary data or what?

Also, do you know if “The Rat” supports COCOMAX 2 graphics?

And if “The Rat” supports COCOMAX 2, what format do I save that in?

By the way, enjoyed meeting you at “RAINBOWFEST”.

Thanks,
ROND

Harbie, I forgot to ask what the remark is for in line 140 of XL256. If I take
it out the program doesn’t work.
Thanks
==> Bernie < ==

Harbie, I would like to know if it is possible to transfer B&W DS69B pics with
your XL256 program without adding color. I would like the transferred pics to
be in B&W so that I can color them using CoCoMax III. I have a RGB monitor if
it makes a difference.
Thanks in advance
=> Bernie < =

I have noticed that there are several CoCo Max pictures as well as Color Max
pictures in the CoCo Graphics Database. There are also several conversion
utilities to convert from one format to another and utilities to display
pictures in a certain format.

I have Color Max Deluxe. I would like to download some of the CoCo Max
pictures,to look at, not necessarily to be able to modify them. Is there a
utility
which can just display them such as GALLERY.BIN for Color Max pix? Or even
a utility which can convert from CoCO Max format to MGE format?

Thanks,
Zack

Hi there.A friend of mine
is looking for a converter
program,and since you do a lot
with graphics,I’ll ask
you.This is what he has said to me:

“….I am looking for a
conversion utility that will
allow pictures to be converted
between CM3,MGE,Atari,MAc,and
Amiga formats.”
Do you know of a program
like this?

Thanks,

–Heath

I once had a graphics picture of the sort “Uncle Sam Wants You”. I cannot seem
to find it. I think that it was for a BBS but I am not sure. Anyone out there
who knows what I am talking about??
Thanks
Bernie

Is there a way to PEEK out the PALETTE values from BASIC so I can save the
numbers to a file?
Thanks!

–=>Jon RUHNOW

ok, i tried to read your file with the program i dloaded from here and sure
enough, there was about 15 blank lines at the top. i tried other files from
here and they too had some blank spot at the top but much less, 2 or 3 lines.
i suspect that such lines are part of the file itself. i tried using view256
from ERIKGAV and
the lines were not there but the whole pic was moved up. i can’t remember
whether his program skipped some of the file or not. will leave him a message
and
hopefully, his answer will follow on this thread

is there any one out there with a ds69b digisector that can help me with
a small problem? here goes i am using xl256.bas to get the (256*256)
pictures onto hscreen for use with coco max 3
i do not seem to get the top 15 or so lines. every thing works fine using
c-see to see and print i get all lines when i hit 3 for veiw and it prints
perfect on my printer but when takeing the picture (scaning) i don’t see
the same 15 or so lines that i dont get with xl256.bas. HHHMMMMM??????
WELL is it me? xl256? or my NEW DS69B. that is giving me this problem or
is this normal when using xl256.bas BY Harbie if you no the prob. please
call collect or leave mail to nasa1. If you call tell operator your name
is ds69b and i will pay for the call. thanks go to harbie for this great
utility!!!!!! nasa1 David L. Brown PH# (317)644-5556

There are GIF viewers available on Compuserve since it is their own personal
format for universal picture exchange. Try there.

I need some help and advice. While trying to load in an old drawing program I
wrote on my old grey Coco from the tape I saved it to, so I could transfer it
to disk that is hooked up to my Coco 3, I tried running it and it made the
machine go crazy. After much experimentatiton, I found it seemed to only bomb
out when going into Pmode 2. So I wrote a short Basic program that went
10 PMODE 2,1
20 SCREEN1,0
30 PCLS
40 GOTO40
The same problem reoccured. Dots and lines began appearing on the right hand
side of the screen and when I hit reset, the Basic interpreter began acting
crazy. Anybody know what is going on here? Also I have never been able to
save programs to tape on the Coco 3. I can load stuff in and if I hook up the
old Coco, can save to tape but on the 3, it doesn’t seem to get there. In fact
I tried to save a program in ASCII and it only saved about the last 10 lines,
which was about a third of it. I never bothered to pursue this since I didn’7t
expect to do much with tape but since I am asking about this, figured I would
throw that in too.
Robert Toscani

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO MODIFY AN EARLY J&M CONTROLLER
TO WORK WITH COCOMAX 3? I AM USING BOTH RS DOS 1.0 AND
ADOS-3. COCOMAX 3 WORKS WITH BOTH DOS’S USING THE RS CONTROLLER
BUT NOT WITH THE EARLY J&M CONTROLLER. IS THE PROBLEM IN
THE CONTROLLER CHIP, OTHER SUPPORT CHIPS, OR COCOMAX 3
ITSELF?

LARRY

Don,
I was wandering if you might be able to tell me if the Atari converter
program is still in the Database. I searched for it but I had no luck. If it’s
not do you know how I could obtain this?
Thanks for your help.
Brandon Knight
(KNIGHT1)

Hello there, anyone who has had problems with the Ultimater, please send me
a message, explaining the Problem, your dos, computer setup etc.
I will pass it on to Ken, and get the answer back here ASAP.
I can not Promise any help for people using NON STANDARD DOS’s, as this is
a large collection of different DOS’s. Also one of the Risks of buying
the non standard dos’s.
Thank you.
I would read through here, but the cost from Canada is too High.
Guy Loucks.

Tony,

Sorry it has taken me awhile to respond. I would assume you have
already gotten some information from others on MAC picture files.
I know Mike Andrews is very knowledgeable and helpful in this area.
He is the one who gave me the information I have. I’m afraid I can’t
tell you much. I know little or nothing about the first 768 bytes of
a MAC picture file. The picture’s name begins in about the second
or third byte of the file. The actual picture data starts in byte
769 of the file. Beginning with byte 769, if you find a byte value
greater than 128, subtract its value from 257 and that will tell you
how many times to copy the next byte onto the screen. If the byte is
less than 128 then add one and copy that many of the following bytes
from the picture data to the screen. For example, suppose starting
with byte 769 you found these values;

248 255 003 100 152 018 012 …

The first value was > 128 so 257-248=9 indicating that you need to
put 9 255′s (the next byte) on the screen. The next byte is a 3,
less than 128 so 3+1=4 so the next four bytes, the 100, 152, 018 and
the 12 would be put into the next four bytes. I might add that a
set bit(1) produces a lit pixel on the COCO and it must be a black
pixel on the MAC because you get a negative image on the COCO if you
don’t compliment a byte before storing it to screen memory.

Hope this is helpful to you. Good luck and sorry I can’t tell you
more. Let me know how it goes.

……………………Ron

Marty,

I was surprised that to see that a file for how to modify your Hi-Res
Interface to work on CoCoMax 3 would be uploaded on Delphi!
Wouldn’t this contribute to Piracy for CoCoMax 3?
I could get a pirated version of CoCoMax 3, but I would not be able to get a
Hi-Res Joystick Interface with it.
I thought the reason Colorware did this so that they could prevent CoCoMax 3
from being pirated!

John L.

Don, it amused me to see HIRES.BIN available here freely, and
I thank Alan for sharing it with all of us. What amused me
was that another programmer (who must remain nameless) quite a number
of months ago came up with a similar patch, and attempted to SELL
it to major CoCo software distributors. The distributors, of course,
realized that it was not likely to produce a great lot of revenue,
so that program languished on the desks of the programmer
and a few distributors to whom it had been shown. I’m glad
that Alan realized that the right thing to do with such
a patch is put it out in public view. —marty

Hello again Tras.
CocomaxIII finally arrived and is exactly what I needed . I can design
signs in front of my clients eyes and they are amazed. However the program
came with one very annoyimg bug. Every time it encounters a disk error (disk
full e.g.) it adds an ascii
11 to the front of the filename and if you save a file after the error it
offsets the rest of the directory by one byte. the files can still be recovered
but you have to manually(with zap prog) rewrite every byte by one from wherever
the offensive filenam
e fell in the file. This is a real pain if it occured in the first of 16 files.
have you heard of a patch. The people at Colorware have heard of the problem
but offer no solution as of yet.
bye Randy

I have a coco III and use telewriter 64. Does anyone know how to change the
border color to black when in edit mode. I can change the foreground and
background colors using the palette command, but cannot change the border
color. Any help would be great
. thanks.

I had the same problem when writing the program. I found that it was joystick
button problems. I bought a brand spanking new Deluxe Joystick, and presto, NO
MORE PROBLEMS! Try someone elses joystick first…if the problem still
persists, then write me again, but I have the feeling that that is the cause
of that problem. As for the height command problem, could it possibly be a bad
download?
Is anyone else having any of these problems? If so, leave me a messag here!

DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE A PRINTER DRIVER FOR COCOMAX 3 FOR THE CANON 1080A.
I TRIED THE B & W CGP 220 DRIVER BUT HAD NO SUCCESS.

It is very easy to download material with one computer and later
transfer it over to another. Just use terminal programs
on both computers that support X modem (procomm on
your Tandy 1400 will work fine). Then, download to your
1400. And later use a NULL MODEM cable between
the 1400 and your CoCo, and transfer the file that way
(using X modem).

As for displaying MGE files… use the program GALLERY,
found in the CoCo 3 Graphics data base.
As far as how to DOWNLOAD MGE files…

sounds like you need to read the HELP files on the
fundatmentals of downloading. Type HELP at the
CoCo SIG prompt, then look thru the many files there.
Near or at the bottom of the list of over 50 files
you’ll see files that offer Help with X modem Downloading.
READ those files carefully. If you have questions
after that, feel free to ask here.

By the way.. you failed to tell us..

What CoCo system do you have? What terminal
program are you currently using??

—marty

Art, you may be interested to know that the bug in the COPY command also
exists in the RS-DOS 1.1 rom. The bug is ACTUALLY in the CLOSE routine.
When an I/O error occurs during COPY, the FCB pointers are pointing to
the wrong place and the close function blows the stack away, causing
the COCO to crash. There is a simple fix for that bug which I implimented
in RGB-DOS and I will be glad to give you the source for that fix if
you are interested. It is only 5 or 6 lines of code… nothing big.

..Roger.

It is almost CERTAIN that to some extent your results are specific
to details of manufacturer-specific internal timing ideosyncracies
of the particular brand of DRAM chips you are using. At least,
that is my guess. Still… that sort of advice is of value to
hackers who are plagued by sparklies, and who are reluctant
to shell out $50 for a new GIME chip, and who are competent
to make the mods you describe. I, for one, would appreciate from
you a suitable summary of your findings, in the form of a nice
TEXT FILE we can enable in the Hardware Hacking section…
one that you and I can refer others to in the future.

365 pf variable cap, eh…. I remember those suckers!
Made an AM radio with one when I was about 10 yrs old…
tho the one I used was a metal leaf / air one.

—marty

Hmm… It may be time for me to CAUTIOUSLY (and with appropriate
disclaimers!) publicize your fascinating observations
about tuning the E clock line capacitance via CoCo Consults.
(it will not appear from some months anyway, for
most of those are written somewhat in advance, so I do have
time for updates and/or cancellations on that tip if you learn more.

Yes.. the disk I/O for OS9 (the software sector I/O code)
was carefully re-written after problems of the sort
that plague RS DOS’s DSKCON code were discovered. Basically
several delay constants have to be lengthened, including the
one that previously was done with two EXG A,A commands.
Art Flexser (who patched DSKCON in ADOS so it works reliably
at 2 MHz machine operation) can give you further details
of exactly what has to be changed, for he has that info
at the tip of his fingers… or tongue.

—marty

Marty, here is an update on what I have been doing with my ’3 concerning
sparklies. What I finally did was to install a 100 pF cap from “E” to
ground and change the resistor that “buffers” “E” from the GIME from a
47 ohm to a 100 ohm. I did likewise for the “Q” circuit, just so that
they would be shifted/delayed the same. The sparklies are TOTALLY gone
now, and no matter whether I have NO “Y” cable, a short one or a long
one. The waveforms for “E” and “Q” still look good, in fact, they seem
to look a bit “cleaner” than before. They are NOT by any means “mushy”.
I have had as much as 500 pf from “E” to ground just to see what it looks
like on the ‘scope and even that much doesn’t do too much to the squareness
of the wave. I then plugged in my TCC-1014-A (oops, sorry I forgot, those
don’t exist!) and looked at “E” & “Q”. They looked just the same as my
old GIME. Anyway, the combo of 100 ohms and 100 pF seems to do the trick.

However, I am sure that you will agree, that this is not a job for a
saturday tinkerer to do. The traces near the GIME are very VERY
thin and delicate. I wish I knew WHY that mod works for my machine,
and if it would work for other ’3s afflicted with the sparklies.

…Roger.

Marty, I made a discovery that you may be interested in. I was experimenting
with my COCO-3, which always has quite bad sparklies. I had attached a very
long (2 foot!) “Y” cable to connect a test board I was working on and noticed
that the sparklies got MUCH worse. It seemed like the capacitance of the “Y”
cable had a direct effect on the “intensity” of sparklies. I wondered if
the sparklies were caused by capacitance on ONE line, or if it was a result
of loading ALL the lines. So, I took off the “Y” cable completely, and surprise!
The sparklies were gone completely! Now, here is what I did: I took a 47 pF disc
capacitor and 2 clip leads (I see you wincing!) and I hooked one lead to
ground and used the other to touch various lines on the COCO-BUS to see
if it was ONE LINE in particular that caused the sparklies. None of the
lines caused sparklies. Now, here is the punchline… I re-connected the
“Y” cable and the sparklies came back. I then repeated the experiment
to see if I could detect a CHANGE in sparklies by using the capacitor.
When I hooked it from pin 6 (E clock) to ground, the sparklies TOTALLY
DISAPPEARED! I then hooked other “Y” cables to the first one and had
a total cable length of about 4 feet(!) with about 10 edge connectors
in the circuit. The sparklies were unbearable. Then I touched the cap
between “E” and ground and zap! The sparklies went completely away.
I put the scope on the line to see what the cap was doing to “E”. All
it seems to do is round the edges of the pulse and cause a tiny bit
of ringing or overshoot. The visible effect of the cap was difficult to
see. I then triggered the scope on “Q” (pin 7) to see if I was introducing
a phase shift into “E”. I wanted a stable trigger source independent of
“E”. The “E” clock didn’t phase shift, it just lost it’s sharp edges.

So there! what do you think of that story?

…Roger.

If you have bought a COCO3 but have not yet bought BOTH ADOS3
and TELEWRITER128 you are denying yourself the real pleasure and
convenience that comes from operating a first-class computer.

HI! –SMALL QUESTION–(BIG ANSWER?)– IS THERE A WAY TO ALTER THE NORMAL
SCREENS’S FONTS , 32X16 , 40X24, OR 80X24 TEXT SCREENS, ON THE COCO 3, IN THE
SAME WAY ONE CAN CHANGE THE FONTS FOR THE HPRINT ON THE HIRES SCREEN?
IF YOU HAVE AN ANSWER? PLEASE LEAVE ME A MESSAGE.

—–CLAUDE AWAD (ARGON)

I recently bought “Warpfighter 3D” from Spectrum Projects because Steve
Bjork’s “Zaxxon” had excellent graphics. On the COCO3 I expected something
better.

With the tiny instruction book provided you can’t even get the program to
boot. Run”*” produces only an IO Error. DIR produces only an IO error
and garbage. DOS starts the game. If you press the “Fire”
button you will be able to shoot down asteroids, but never see an enemy fighter.
Following the instructions, pressing “w” does nothing. You must press
to get into warp drive.

It is a shame that an excellent program is botched by a poor instruction
book. Still, Steve, “Warpfighter” dose not measure up to “ZAXXON”.

RALPHGEORGE

HAS ANY ONE PATCHED THE STAND ALONE VERSION OF VIP TERMINAL
TO WORK ON THE COCO 3 ?
I HAVE PATCHED VIP WRITER TO
WORK ON THE COCO 3 USING PATCHES
FOUND HERE AND ON CIS, BUT HAVE NOT FOUND ANY FOR THE TERMINAL SYSTEM.

YYOU CAN COUNT M AMONG THE HAPPY TREKKIES !!!

HI! I’VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND THE CONVERTER PROGRAM YOU SAID WAS IN THE LAST
FILE IN “WOMEN–WOMEN-WOMEN..” BUT I DIDN’T GET IT. I WAS REALY IMPRESSED AT
THE THOUGHT OF CONVERTING 16 LEVEL PICS TO CM3 FORMAT. COULD YOU PLEASE BE OF
ASSISTANCE.

—–CLAUDE AWAD (ARGON)

To view the entire page from within CoCoMaxIII, click on “Options” then
click on “Scroll Page.” This will display the whole image. And of course,
if you’re working on a two-screen picture, you’ll be able to scroll it up and
down at that point. Hope I’ve been of some help to you.

In response to your other message, I would be very interested in swapping
CM3 pix with you. Most of what I have has been uploaded here to the CoCo3
Graphics Database, but there are others, and I’m always working on more all
the time!

STEVEPDX

Harbie…. yes, the save utility will save a CoCo Max II 2-screener as a two-
screen CM3 pic. Of course, this involves PMODE conversions so I don’t know
about the rest. Hope you can do what you want….
STEVEPDX

Does anybody know how the font files for CoCo Max and/or Macintosh font files
are set up? I am trying to write a program which will convert Mac fonts into
CoCo fonts, but need more info. P.S. if anybody knows the file format for
Macpaint pictures, I wo
uld be grateful for the info. Thanks.

HI THERE.I’M HEATH DINGWELL.
I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD
HELP ME.
I AM HAVING PROBLEMS WITH
COCO MAX III.BEFORE I STATE
MY PROBLEM,LET ME SAY I’VE
READ THE MANUAL BUT DIDN’T
UNDERSTAND THE SECTION:
THE BIG PICTURE.
MY QUESTION:
HOW DO I VIEW A FULL! PAGE
OF GRAPHICS.I KNOW THAT
WHEN MAKING THE PIC. YOU
USE DOUBLE PAGE.I’VE DONE
THAT AND DRAWN SOME THINGS.
THEN I’VE SAVED THEM USING
SAVE AS…. BUT HOW DO I
VIEW THE WHOLE THING?
I TRIED SHIFT-UP ARROW,
BUT THAT ALSO SAVED THE
ICON MENU.
ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
THANKS!!!!
LATER,

–HEATH DINGWELL

DOES ANYONE WANNA TRADE
PUBLIC DOMAIN COCO MAX III
GRAPHICS.IF SO PLEASE LEAVE
ME A FORUM MESSAGE OR MAIL
MESSAGE.
THANKS

–HEATH DINGWELL

Harbie…. *EXCELLENT* little program you have there! Now just one little
question – since it only gives 200 lines, how would I go about offsetting the
image about 30 lines. You claim the entire conversion is there so how do I
“move up” the picture so
I can get the most important parts?? Thanx for the good work!
Stevepdx

A few weeks ago, I downloaded the TINY program from the database. It was
really nice to have, since a friend of mine has hundreds of tiny pictures on
his ST. However, is there a way to convert these pictures from TINY to MGE
format?

Since it is possible to use an external printer driver with the program
MAC2CC3 I was wondering if it would be possible to replace the printer driver
code with code to save the Mac picture out to disk in CoCo Max 3′s two screen
format. Anyone know if it would be possible. And if so, would anyone like to
volunteer to do it since I have very little experience with ML. Thanks!
–
Matt Stevens

Marty suggested I contact you with regard to a comparison of cocomax and
colormax3. I am in outdoor advertising and want to display sign layouts for
clients both on the monitor and in rough form on a dmp105
the most important criteria for me os the way text is dealt with and i need a
font editor.I am using a 128k coco with 3 drives
any help would be appreciated. Thanx. Randy

Hello Cray
I read your review of cocomax and was wondering if you could give me a breif
comparison betweeen color max and cocomax
I am a commercial artist involved mainly in outdoor advertising (signs truck
lettering etc) I would like to use on of the above programs to display and edit
draft layouts for clients and provide them with a printout. the most important
feature s for me wo
uld be the speed and quality of the available fonts
the availability of t a font generator
whether a font cold be rotated from the horizontal
how proportional the hardcopy is to the picture on the screen.
Any help from you or anyone else who reads this message wpould be
appreciated. thanx
randy

is’nt there any faster way in getting
the program you mention the mail here
u mention last time the
mail here is terible and i would problyably
die before i can download anything from
rainbow.

HEY MARTY I JUST GOT A REPLY FOR MY LETTER ASKING ANYONE IF THEY HAD
INFORMATION ON A MACPAINT FILE FORMAT. I GOT A REPLY DATED JAN 11, 1988. AND IT
SAIND THAT HE POSTED A MESSAGE ABOUT IT A COUPLE MONTHES AGO. I WOULD TAKE
HOURS FOR ME TRY TO FIND IT. COU
LD YOU HELP ME . THANKS??

– SCIENTIST

i need to find some way to view mge and ds69a coco images on my ibm…any ideas?

For those that have downloaded my DMP-105 DS-69 printer routine, you might want
to try adding these lines in the basic program:

25 FORI=&H719F TO&H71BC:READA:POKEI,A:NEXT
26 DATA0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,3,1,1,1,1,3,1,3,1,3,1,3,3,3,3

All this does is change the patterns used for each of the 16 levels in the
picture.. The program only uses a 2×2 grid for each dot in the picture and it’s
real hard to get a fairly decent looking 16-level printout this way. These
patterns look a little better than the ones in the program now for some
pictures.. You’ll have to play around with these some. If you think up any
other good patterns let me know..

Mike

I recently purchased the ART-DELI library from The Computer Center and thought
it would be a great idea to convert the pix to CM3 to use with COCOMAX3. Alas
…when I got the 22 pix on one side of a A-D disk into CM# mode I found
thehat COCOMAX3 can only handle 16 file at a time since it reads the direc-
tory onto a screen…..any suggestions???

Can anyone tell me where I can find or if they are working on a utility for
converting DS-69A and DS-69B 256 X 256 data files to CM3 format pictures?
In lieu of that, is there any way of exiting VIEW256.BIN without destroying
the image? And is the image HSCREEN2 or 4? Thanks in advance.

Stevepdx

Greg,

Did I just get an early copy? My version of Color Max 3 Deluxe doesn’t
seem to accept the NO-COMPRESSION mode. No matter what I set the flag to.
The big problem is that if I load a non-compressed file on a fairly full
disk (it’s non-compressed because the picture is so complex it’s smaller that
way) then make a change and try to save it, the disk runs out of room and
the file is deleted. I then have to try and find a disk I think is empty
and try again. After I get a good save I load it and re-save it with BSCTOOL
to get it back down to 14 grans.
Am I the only one this happens to?

Mark

Does anyone know of any epson printer dumps that can print all those 256×256
digitalized pictures?