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BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1989
February 1989 Volume 2, Issue 2
Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel
Slave Editorial Column.........................Randy Hilliard
EISA vs. MCA: Interview with Mike Ennis.......Jay Enterkin
Our Local Bulletin Board Systems...............Mark Maisel
Profile........................................Chris Mohney
Batch Files....................................Co-SysOp One, Channel 8250
From The Kitchen...............................Chez Stephan
Message Board..................................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel
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Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any, for BTN, its
editors, and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify this in the content of his
article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:
Mark Maisel
Editor, BTN
221 Chestnut St.
Birmingham, AL 35210-3219
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
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Slave Editorial
By Randy Hilliard
Well!!! (as my fingers thump an angry tattoo on the desk). Here we are
again. Evidential, our esteemed Editor-in-Chief, Mark Maisel, didn't
receive enough complaints on the guest editorial of BTN 10 (that I
wrote) to justify him taking the reins again (or at least selecting
another victim).
So here I am again, (pinched, sarcastic smile), catering to all of you
kiddies for the BTN 11 issue and I tell you that I am so happy about
this that I could just ... Oh, never mind.
You see, when Mark told me that he wanted me to do this editorial again
I told him "absolutely no way!" He then went on to explain how if he had
to write the editorial he would sprinkle it liberally with anecdotes
about my antics at the BTN meeting that my room mate had no idea of (due
to the large quantities of fermented hops I had consumed, neither had I.
I seemed to have had a rather good time though at least by Mark's
version).
So I decided to take it like a man; I gave in and told him I'd do it.
So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I proudly (?) present the
11th edition on the Birmingham Telecommunications Newsletter. It walks,
it talks, its been know to crawl on it's belly like a reptile. It does
all of this for the small price of one thin dime (looks at the sheet), I
mean one thin nickel (whisper from behind the curtain), I mean free,
ladies and gentlemen, just step right in....
This issue of the BTN contains an article by Jay Enterkin that should be
of particular interest to the hardware freaks out there on the EISA vs
MCA bus standards. We also have our regular article by Mark Maisel on
one of our local bulletin board systems, Channel 8250. The Profile this
month is on another local figure we have all heard about: Michele
Cahoon. The Co-Sysop One of Channel 8250 has written an article on the
care and feeding of batch files that we hope will be enlightening. Chez
Stephan has written us another article on how to be a wizard with a
grill and (this time) a steak. Barry Bowden has March's Message board
on line which is followed by our Known BBS List by our infamous
Idiot-in-Chief, Mark Maisel.
And remember, ladies and gentlemen,
Anything free is worth only twice what you paid for it!
Enjoy!
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COPYRIGHT 1989 Jay Enterkin.
Because this article may run almost simultaneously in another
publication this article may not be reproduced without specific
permission by the author except as part of the BTN 11 issue which may
be placed on BBS's as a downloadable file.
EISA vs. MCA
by Jay Enterkin
A Meeting & Interview with Mike Ennis, Senior Systems Engineer for
Compaq at their Orlando Facility
Ever since IBM introduced its' PS/2 MicroChannel Architecture
machines in April, 1987, most industry observers and users we've seen
have fallen into one of four groups:
1) Those who see the PS/2 MCA line as being a technological
breakthrough, the certain system of choice to replace the 16-bit
AT bus now and into the 1990s.
2) Those who decry the incompatibility of the PS/2 MCA line with
IBM's past offerings. They see IBM as having been off-target
with the PS/2 MCA machines, making add-in boards incompatible,
requiring PS/2 users who need 5-1/4 inch drive capability to put
cumbersome, unsightly and expensive external drives next to
those sleek PS/2 CPU boxes, and generally making IBM offerings
'non-IBM compatible'. Compaq has hammered home the 'IBM is now
non-IBM-compatible' message, and is seen by a growing number of
users and businesses as the new industry leader.
3) Those who believe that at some point new hardware and software
(including new operating systems) will be necessary to continue
the rapid progress of PC technology. What distinguishes this
group from Group 1 is that they don't seem to think that the
whole PS2/MCA/OS2 package is the answer to that need, and they
surely don't want to see the PS/2 MCA emerge as the only path for
current MS-DOS users to take (assuming they don't want to break
completely away by migrating to the MAC, NeXT, or other micros
with CPU lineages outside the 8086/8088/80286/80386/80486
family).
4) Those who take a wait-and-see, or even an 'I don't know and I
don't care I just want to get my work done today' attitude. Let
the other folks make the hard choices and we'll follow whatever
proves out, this cautious group concludes.
In September, 1988, a group of organizations banded together to
announce another alternative for the PC/MS-DOS world. The EISA Bus (for
Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture) became the first real contender
to challenge IBM's PS/2 MCA's position as the next hardware platform.
Nine PC vendors (Compaq, Epson, NEC, Zenith, Hewlett-Packard, AST
Research, Tandy, Wyse, and Olivetti) joined five other major players
(Intel, Microsoft, Digital Communications, Novell and 3Com) in this
attempt to develop a standardized 32-bit bus that will maintain downward
compatibility with the current 16-bit AT bus.
Predictably, Group 1 balked. Comments ranged from 'It's nothing, it
doesn't exist yet. More vaporware.' to 'Just what we DON'T need. Two
new standards in place of one.' IBM couldn't resist: 'EISA is just a set
of flip charts' was one of Big Blue's oft-quoted reactions.
For those in Group 2, EISA gives them hope and something (finally)
to cheer about. Many of them felt EISA gave them a future for the
systems they already have installed, protecting investments in AT-class
equipment. A lot of companies have spent a small fortune on PC, XT and
AT machines, and they don't want to write that off and invest in the
even more expensive MCA line, which is, in their view, completely
different.
For Group 3, most welcome both MCA and EISA, and try to remain open
to giving all technological advances a fair chance to prove themselves
---or fail --- on their own merits. Quite a few in this group are of
the opinion that MCA, EISA and OS/2 are all just temporary bridges to
the next level of technology, and that as such they will never come
close to having the impact on personal computing that MS-DOS-based PC,
XT and AT systems have had since their introductions.
Group 4 are practical, hard-working types who don't fit the labels
that some members of the other groups have hung on them:
'narrow-minded', 'overly cautious', 'myopic' and 'stuck in the past'.
They are usually doing a pretty excellent job with what they have, and
will happily move on to the next logical step, AFTER their critics have
coped with the inevitable frustrations of being on the leading edge of a
new technology, and proven the value, benefits and risks involved in
making the change.
Now it's first quarter, 1989. Almost two years have passed since
the introduction of the MicroChannel Architecture, but only about six
months since the announcement of the proposed EISA bus standard. More
questions than answers about these two (MCA and EISA) have surfaced
during that time: Does MCA have an insurmountable head start on EISA?
Then why, as recently as November, did less than 20 percent of all
80386-based PCs sold have the MicroChannel Architecture? (IBM is
licensing the MCA for use by other vendors, but at a cost as high as 5
percent of the total purchase price of the other vendors systems.) The
latest available figures indicate that the installed AT-bus base is
still at least 5 times larger than the installed MCA-bus base, but
recent sales figures suggest that MCA machines are making a strong move.
So there it is. Confusion and indecision are the order of the day
whenever corporate buyers and end users consider which path to follow in
what has been aptly termed 'The Bus Wars'. Recently, we had the
opportunity to talk with some Compaq officials to get the latest inside
information on EISA. This is what we learned:
The conference room was packed. Most of those attending were members
of the IEEE Computer Society, the group which had organized the meeting.
Compaq's presentation team, consisting of Mike Ennis, Senior Systems
Engineer at Compaq's Orlando facilities, and Richard Thomas, Scott
Pierson and Jim Spurgeon, members of Compaq's marketing management team
based in Atlanta, had flown in to Birmingham to get out Compaq's message
about EISA on a first-hand basis.
The Compaq team had strategically placed a non-EISA machine, a model
SLT286 laptop, on a table right inside the door so that it would be the
first thing each person saw when they entered the room. It was a very
impressive sight with an eight-shade VGA gas plasma display running a
graphics demo (naturally!), and had far and away the sharpest and
brightest image I have ever seen on a portable machine, the first I have
seen with color. With 640K RAM, a 20mb hard drive, 1.44mb 3-1/2 inch
drive, built-in parallel, serial and VGA ports (external VGA monitors
plug right in!), a detachable keyboard and 80286 CPU all in a package
that folds up smaller than a standard briefcase, this was a machine for
anyone's wish list.
Doug Reinsch opened the meeting by introducing himself, adding "I'm
the chairman of IEEE, as absurd as that may sound. But that's ok, since
I'm only a figurehead." I found his self-effacing style amusing and
refreshing. After a slick Compaq promotional video, Mike Ennis provided
a detailed look at the new EISA bus standard.
A key point in Compaq's effort to establish EISA in the marketplace
is the fact that EISA (Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture,
pronounced ez-uh) is a natural enhancement and evolution of the current
machines, which it refers to as ISA (Industry Standard Architecture,
pronounced as initials like MCA).
The EISA bus is designed to be software AND hardware compatible with
the millions of XT-and AT-class machines already in use worldwide,
whereas the MCA systems are a radical departure.
Some goals Compaq hopes to achieve with EISA were outlined:
- to define the future PC architecture standard
- protect the investment in the current ISA machines
- an open industry standard with no royalties
Compaq has found that the bus in current systems utilizes an average
of only 5 percent of overall processing power, and that the CPU and
memory accesses take a much larger share. Because of this, EISA is
designed with a dual bus and a CPU/memory cache to allow optimized
concurrent processing. According to Ennis, the dual bus approach
combined with concurrent processing will allow EISA to outperform MCA by
an average of 30 percent in terms of throughput speed. He also noted
that EISA is strictly a bus specification, one that allows manufacturers
greater flexibility with other aspects of EISA machines, as compared to
MCA, which is a total systems architecture, right down to the CPU level.
But aren't some of the nine original EISA members going ahead with
plans to produce MCA machines? "Yes," Ennis replied, "They're not
stupid. If a product (MCA) has a twenty-percent market share, why
wouldn't they want to produce it?" But what if MCA's share of the market
continues to increase? "Units sales are still running 5-to-1, ISA over
MCA. With EISA machines soon to be available, we feel that the MCA
market share won't expand beyond a certain point." Some critics have
complained that the 5-to-1 ISA over MCA unit sales ratio Compaq
continues to cite is tipped in favor of non-MCA machines because
Compaq's numbers account only for retail sales through dealers and don't
include IBM's VAR and direct sales. "We don't get our figures from a
single source. We look to at least three sources for that data, and it
does take into account non-dealer sales. Is the 5-to-1 unit sales ratio
a real number? Yes." Someone else asked him why all the controversy over
EISA. "Controversy sells newspapers and magazines. And because EISA is
still evolving. We want to make sure we get it right the first time,
and to allow developers to have confidence that we won't be changing the
specs frequently. Those who have signed up as EISA developers are under
a non-disclosure policy, and that angers some of the computer
publications and independent testing labs who can't get their hands on
the specifications." He said that when it is finalized it will be an
open specification, however, unlike MCA which requires a licensing
agreement with IBM and royalty fees to IBM based on sales. When will
EISA machines actually come to the marketplace? "They should be
available in the third quarter this year, but I don't expect Compaq will
be the first manufacturer to bring one out. We are committed to selling
EISA machines only when there are applications and third-party support
for it. We don't want to do what IBM did with the MCA and put a product
on the market that doesn't have any immediate benefits to the user."
Ennis has been with Compaq for less than one year, but he cheerfully
assured me he had made "the RIGHT choice." His previous employer?
"AT&T". Based on what we've learned, we don't find it hard to believe
that EISA may well be the right choice, too.
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Our Local Bulletin Board Systems
Number Two In A Series
by Mark Maisel
Name: Channel 8250
Sysop: Ed O'Neill
Software: PC Board 12.1/D
Been Around: 2 years
Baud Rates: 300-2400 (9600 soon)
Bulletins: General System Information
Conferences: EZNET, Opinions; a general discussion conference,
Agnostics; theology and philosophy discussions
Computers Supported: IBM & Assorted Clones
Files Available: variety of shareware and public domain offerings
Doors Available: PKXDoor, User Door, ANSI Ads, ProDoor
Special Information: Author of EZNET, PKXDoor, and User Door
Q. Why did you start your BBS?
A. Naivete, I guess.
Q. What has been your greatest reward from running your BBS?
A. I have made many new friends and met lots of new people.
Q. What are your greatest regrets and annoyance associated with running a
BBS?
A. Maintaining file libraries is the biggest annoyance in running a BBS.
It is also frustrating when users use all of their time to download
files from the board without using or exploring other areas of the
board.
Q. What are your future plans for the BBS?
A. I am supposed to get a 9600 baud modem and I am not sure of what
else I might do in the near future.
Q. What is the funniest thing that has happened on your BBS?
A. The over-reaction by some folks to the first Breezin' Survey that
appeared in BTN. I was amused and amazed at the people who took the
survey seriously.
Q. What is your favorite hobby/pastime outside of your BBS and computers
in general?
A. My job, but it is also computer related. I do enjoy working in
industrial electronics outside of computers.
Q. What do you think your system offers that might cause someone to
prefer your board over others?
A. It has interesting message bases and discussions.
Q. Why?
A. Because users who call my board are mainly interested in interactive
discussion. I offer very little in the way of files. One reason I
mentioned is one of my annoyances about folks who download constantly.
Another is that most of the files people could want or need are
available at the Birmingham Public Library (main branch) in a much
more
convenient format. Most other boards in town also have several of the
same files.
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PRO FILE
by Chris Mohney
The Pro File is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to
various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham.
Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the
notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may
petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris
Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to
suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their
knowledge may take the same route ....
---------
Pro File on MICHELE CAHOON
---------
Age: 25
Birthplace: Birmingham,Al.
Occupation: Professional Student
My hobbies include: Fishing, water skiing, riding horses, and riding
motors.
Years telecomputing: 3
Sysop, past/present/future of: Point of NO Return
My oddest habit is: being too curious and nosy.
My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: writing two guide books.
The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: actually there
are two which I am most proud of, Michael, my son, and Anna, my daughter.
My favorite performers are: Van Halen, Guns and Roses, Eddie Rabbitt, and
Randy Travis
The last good movie I saw was: They Live
The last good book I read was: Bill Cosby Forty-Nine
If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played
by: Bette Midler
My pet peeves are: dishonesty, and child abuse.
When nobody's looking, I like to: play with children's toys.
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Batch Files; Making Life Easier
by Co-Sysop One
Channel 8250
Birmingham, Al
205-785-7417 300/1200/2400 N-8-1
Batch files are ASCII text files that can be produced with any ASCII
editor and are ran from the DOS level. They are probably the most
universally helpful and most poorly documented of the DOS functions.
Usually small, they can, depending on the skill of the programmer, become
quite large and complex.
When you first boot your computer up (those of you who have volatile
DOS) it has just enough sense to read sector one of the boot disk. This
sector of the disk tells it to load the next several sectors of disk
containing more information about how it is to operate. After loading
these tidbits of data it graduates from being an idiot to an imbecile;
an incredibly fast imbecile, mind you, but still an imbecile. It will
then look on the disk for a file called CONFIG.SYS and will ingest it if
it is available. After CONFIG.SYS has been read and operating
parameters altered yet again, it looks to see if AUTOEXEC.BAT is in the
root directory of the default drive. If it finds an AUTOEXEC.BAT it will
ingest it also out of curiosity and just to see if it is palatable.
Hopefully this article will help you to write your AUTOEXEC.BAT (and
your other BAT files) in such a way that your computer does not get
indigestion.
AUTOEXEC.BAT files are no different in creation or execution than
any other batch file you might write but it is special in the fact that
the people who wrote DOS thought it would be neat to have their computer
do certain things automatically when booted up. So they wrote DOS in
such a way that IF the AUTOEXEC.BAT was there THEN go ahead and run it.
One oddity to mention at this point: if you are one of these people who
does not have a clock card in your computer, get annoyed at having it
ask you for the time when you boot up, and really don't care if your
computer does think it is 00:00:00 on 01:01:80, then an AUTOEXEC is just
the thing for you! It will not ask you the date unless you specifically
tell it to.
Think of your computer as your imbecile son and a batch file as a
note you left on the table telling him what to do until you verbally
tell him different. A list of things for him to do so to speak.
Any valid command or program that can be given at the system (DOS,
drive, whatever) prompt can be executed from a batch file as long as it
does not require keyboard input while executing (more about how to get
around this in a later article...).
Note: this is a little known and even less cared for fact; all
valid 'batch' file commands are in fact DOS commands and can be
executed from the system prompt. The reason it is even less
cared for is that most 'batch' file commands are not much good
outside of a batch file (except maybe CLS [clear screen]).
TALKING TO THE IMBECILE
COMMAND: REM
USAGE: REM
EXAMPLE: <COMMAND> REM XXXX
This is a good place to start. DOS ignores anything printed on a
line after a REM statement. This statement is used to comment a batch
file so that later on when you look at it you know what it (or a section
of it) does.
COMMAND: ECHO
USAGE: ECHO <OFF> <ON> <TEXT>
EXAMPLE: ECHO OFF
EXAMPLE: ECHO ON
EXAMPLE: ECHO XXXX
Normally when a batch file runs every command is echoed (typed) to
the screen as that command executes. The ECHO OFF command stops this
nonsense which is useful when you are doing something crafty that you
don't want everyone to see what you are doing in your batch file or if
you'd just rather see a blank screen while it runs.
If you have set ECHO OFF and later want to turn it back on at a
later time, then use the ECHO ON command.
ECHO XXXX (the X's being text of some sort) will type that text to
the screen even if you have set ECHO OFF.
ECHO on a line by itself causes the message 'ECHO is ON (or OFF)'
to be typed to the screen. Use the ECHO commands (and DOS redirection)
to control text output to the screen while your batch file is running.
Do not put anything else on the same line with the ECHO OFF command.
COMMAND: GOTO
USAGE: GOTO <LINE LABEL>
EXAMPLE: IF <CONDITION> GOTO <LINE LABEL>
Tells DOS to branch to a line label. Usually used with a
conditional statement. If the condition is not true, then continue
execution with the next line.
COMMAND: :LABEL
USAGE: :LABEL
EXAMPLE: :AGAIN
Ignored by DOS until told to GOTO LABEL. The LABEL is not a
command; it is a destination. Except as a destination it has no effect
on program execution. Note that the GOTO statement did not use the ':'
before the LABEL name but that the LABEL statement does.
COMMAND: IF
USAGE: IF <CONDITION> <COMMAND>
EXAMPLE: IF {NOT} EXIST <PATH>FILENAME.EXT DEL <PATH>FILENAME.EXT
If this filename can be found at this location, then perform this
command (any legal DOS (or BATCH) command).
EXAMPLE: IF {NOT} X==Y ECHO TEXT
If X does not equal Y, then type some text to the screen.
EXAMPLE: IF {NOT} ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO BAILOUT
If ERRORLEVEL is equal to one, then GOTO the line label BAILOUT.
This command is extensively used with the EXIST == (equals), and IF
ERRORLEVEL commands to allow the batch file to make decisions while
running and act accordingly. The use of the NOT command is used to
reverse the logic of the statement. This command is extensively used
with replaceable parameters which are discussed later.
COMMAND: CLS
USAGE: CLS
EXAMPLE: IF ERRORLEVEL 1 CLS
Clears the screen and places the cursor at the upper left corner of
the screen.
COMMAND: PAUSE
USAGE: PAUSE
EXAMPLE: IF ERRORLEVEL 1 ECHO UH OH!
PAUSE
Stops execution of the batch file and displays the message "Strike a
key when ready..." at the bottom of the screen. Batch file execution
will continue whenever a key is pressed. This command is useful when
you are displaying more than one screen full of data on the screen and
want to keep it from scrolling off the screen or if you want to give an
opportunity to bail out of the batch file at a given point of execution.
COMMAND: IF ERRORLEVEL
USAGE: IF ERRORLEVEL X <COMMAND>
EXAMPLE: IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO AGAIN
Most well mannered programs will set the ERRORLEVEL equal to 0 if
they ran successfully and 1 if they did not. If you wrote a batch file
that copied files from one disk to another, then deleted the original,
you would want to use the IF ERRORLEVEL command to test for success of
the copy operation before deleting the original file.