BAY AREA AT&T PC USERS GROUP - NEWSLETTER #16 (MAY 1988) ******************************************************** NORTH BAY MEETING ***************** WHEN: Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM (first Wednesday each month) WHERE: AT&T, 795 Folsom Street, in San Francisco, across from Moscone Center, about five blocks from Montgomery Street Bart. The July Meeting will be in Oakland. AGENDA: (times are approximate) Special Interest Groups 6:30 PM (New users, intermediate and advanced DOS, UNIX, etc.) Informal discussion and refreshments. Swap session. Convene, Group business, 7:00 PM Committee reports, announcements, Technical Q&A session (AT&T staff) Election of Officers 7:15 PM W. Allen Associates 8:00 PM 6300/EGA Bus Correction Kit TRINTEX/PRODIGY 7:00 PM (new on-line service) Adjourn (out by 10 PM) 9:30 PM The new users group will be starting part one of a four part repeating program. Handouts are available. Contact Mark Almeida or Barry Newman. SILICON VALLEY MEETING ********************** WHEN: Wednesday, June 8, 6:00 PM (2nd Wednesday each month) WHERE: AT&T building at 1090 E. Duane Ave. in Sunnyvale (just off Lawrence Expressway, one block from route 101) AGENDA: (times are approximate) Special Interest Groups 6:00 PM (New users, intermediate and advanced DOS, UNIX, etc.) Informal discussion and refreshments. Swap session. Convene, Group business, 7:00 PM Committee reports, announcements Technical Q&A session 7:15 PM (AT&T staff) Harvard Graphics Demo 8:00 PM Please note the new 6PM starting time for the MS/DOS new users SIG. INSIDE THIS ISSUE ***************** We have been able to put together almost an entire issue on the subject of hard disks. Mark Almeida (ASK THE WIZ) describes the installation of a 64MB drive (using RLL). Reader David Calabrese added a second hard disk (a 72MB external drive), and discusses some basic procedures, including the use of DISK MANAGER formatting and setup software. Larry Risner's TECH TIPS covers hard drive format procedures using AT&T's menu-driven LOWFORM utility. Larry has also provided us with a list of AT&T supported hard drives,along with drive specifications and DIP switch settings for various machine and ROM BIOS versions. Bill Todd casts a vote for Steve Gibson's SPINRITE program (as does Mark Almeida). Barry Newman discusses the installation of the GEM operating system for a user base of 450. Joe Mahoney covers a little bit of everything in his monthly PRESIDENT'S BITS column - please read for a discussion of bylaws changes and information on elections. UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS *********************** Last month, we discussed how to use the echo command to change screen appearance (using the format: echo ^[[nn;nn;nnm). We said that you had to include quotation marks around the escape sequence - that is incorrect. It will work with the quotes, but they are not needed, and the results are cleaner without the quotes. Larry Risner reports that the new VDC 750 video card (AT&T graphics/CGA/EGA) WILL work on any 6300 that has been correctly modified to run EGA, but that it WILL NOT support DEB functions, as was stated in the original documentation. Next month, we will concentrate on video and display issues, including a complete review of the current situation with add-on video boards, particularly EGA cards. OMISSIONS ********* Last month, Bill Todd of TODD-PC3 in San Jose gave a high resolution graphics demo on a 6300 with a resolution of 1280 x 800 monochrome on an AMDEK 14" monitor. This performance requires the 11.43 ROM BIOS and replacement of the video display chip. Bill can be contacted at (408) 263-8925 MAY MEETING RECAP ***************** Joe Mahoney The May meeting was a full evening's exposure to a variety of hardware, networking, and connectivity products from AT&T's Data Systems Group. AT&T provided an introductory multi-media show featuring an emphasis on open architecture and the interrelationship of products, switches, and voice or data users. I was particularly impressed with the facsimile transmission and video scanner devices; these combined with PC's running text and graphics editors seemed most useful in a variety of work settings. The evening included a tour in sub-groups through several product areas in the Customer Presentation Center and each area was hosted by technically articulate, personable staff from AT&T. We certainly appreciated this event and efforts of John Broadus (CPC Manager) and Allison Pittman (Administrative Assistant). This CPC group is generally responsible for hosting all of our Oakland meetings. JUNE MEETING (SAN FRANCISCO) **************************** Joe Mahoney We want to feature more hardware technical Q&A at the June meeting, and a couple of unexpected programs have also surfaced. First, Bill Allen of Cupertino will introduce the $45 6300/EGA adaptor card for the PC6300 that his company makes (fixes completely the "hi-byte/lo-byte" problem that prevents some software from operating in EGA mode even on a properly installed EGA card in a PC6300). This device will be installed and shown at the meeting by Bill. The Users Group will offer one of the cards as the evening door prize. Then, Susan Higbee, National Market Manager of PRODIGY, will present this new videotext, national dial-up information service by Trintex. The company offers a $80 Hayes Personal Modem 1200 (1200bps with cable and connectors) for those wishing to try the service and who need a modem; PRODIGY service is a flat-rate, $9.95/month, regardless of actual time on-line. The service was first shown at the Computer Faire and to other area users groups in April. SILICON VALLEY SECTION ********************** Joe Lipsig, President There are many items coming up for the AT&T Users Group. First let me remind everyone that there will be an AT&T day at DataSource from 12 to 2 PM, and 4 to 7 PM, on Wednesday, June 15. DataSource is now located at 4090 Steven's Creek Boulevard in San Jose (at Saratoga Avenue). There will be seminars at 12 and 1 PM and then again at 4, 5 and PM, on UNIX and networking by AT&T technicians. Discount coupons will be available for AT&T products and training, as well as store discounts for AT&T computer systems, printers, software and Starlan network boards. Please plan to attend and support this event. In the UNIX arena, anyone interested in purchasing a 7300 (UNIX PC) please give me a call. One of our members is trying to get a group discount if enough people are interested. I am in the process of checking the prices of hard cards for the 5300 line. I would like to know if anyone is interested. I have found that some manufacturers can offer a considerable discount if we purchase as a users group. Please bear in mind, we have a large meeting room available for our use. I can host any users that wish to arrive early for the purpose of meeting or working together. PRESIDENT'S BITS **************** Joe Mahoney At the May 4 (Oakland) meeting, members voted (22 voters) unanimously to adopt the various BYLAWS changes, including the name change to AT&T COMPUTER USERS GROUP. Because of the light meeting turn-out, we will repeat the balloting at the June 1 San Francisco meeting to give additional members a chance to vote. This is the night of general officers' election as well -- you are urged to attend and cast your ballot early in the evening. Nominations (and self-nomination) for office remain open until voting at around 7:15pm. You may phone Bob Martin (415 831-1931 in Danville) to nominate or volunteer. Nominations at press time include the following: President (Joe Mahoney); Vice President (Mark 'The Wiz' Almeida); Secretary (open); Treasurer (Frank Davidoff); Members-at-Large (Bob Larsen, Bob Martin). The secretary is an important voting member of the Executive Committee and mostly assists at present with notes on meeting proceedings. (Note, we are still seeking a paid door- person to help with meeting sign-in and such!) Ruth Holzman of Osborne-McGraw-Hill publishers has contacted us to offer discounts on book purchases through the group on a quantity basis. I have cautioned her that some area bookstores already offer these at some savings. She will have a table and sampling of their books at the July Oakland meeting. Member John Gowen won the evening door prize in May, a copy of Osborne- McGraw Hill's 1-2-3: The Complete Reference, donated by the publisher. (The Wiz won the evening consolation prize, Maxell diskettes!) New in our growing collection of public-domain / shareware disk library are GALAXY (a great word processor) and PCLOAN3 (amortization and interest calculator with calendars) -- these are available for "off loading" at the meetings. GALAXY is quite impressive and quickly learned. It has many advanced features and fine menus and help windows; several printer drivers are included -- you'll be writing new documents within minutes. Well worth a look! PCLOAN3 was given by the publisher, a Texas "Silicon Prairie" firm, and received some favorable mention in the June '87 issue of Computers in Accounting (contact me for a copy of the review article on shareware for accountants). I found the program "just OK". I am a disaster at mortgage problems; I've yet to find a program that will help me figure adjustable rate scenarios and early loan payoffs with occasional extra payments! (I already use a cheap program called MORTPLAN). Those of you who are in the financial area should try PCLOAN3 and send the author your critique. I have located a person who will head-up a 6300 PLUS group; if you want to participate, be sure I get you on a list and let me know if you want to see a special SIG developed -- a group to meet separately with an AT&T technician on a regular basis (perhaps quarterly). UNIX users should note the group known as Silicon Valley Net, meeting 3rd Tuesday monthly in Cupertino (Apple Auditorium, 10500 N. De Anza Blvd). This group appears to have mini-computer UNIX interest and you could phone for more information: Ralph Barker (408)248-8649 or Grant Rostig (408)294-5319. The SVCS UNIX PC SIG (see April Newsletter) is growing quickly, but I'm not sure that they welcome AT&T PC owners as yet. Although plenty of UNIX resources exist down the peninsula, I feel a need to host a UNIX SIG of our own in the San Francisco area; I see no UNIX groups in North Bay tabloid listings. If you agree, please contact me. We can certainly get AT&T support and help in learning UNIX, particularly as this concerns the environment of our PC's and connectivity to mini- and mainframe computing. Without demonstrated interest in the group, we can not foster viable SIG's. A "UNIX 101" lecture is planned for an upcoming meeting. A "SIG" is a Special Interest Group; all Users Groups (except ours) have them. They are really special focus groups within the larger organization, often meeting separately. We have little time at our general meeting to take an in-depth look at certain topics that would best work as SIG's. The Beginning DOS users class is a good example; UNIX users is another; or, 6300 PLUS owners, perhaps dBASE folks.... Give it a thought; perhaps you can chair a SIG. AT&T held a 2-day customer symposium in San Francisco May 17-18 to show it's new Data Systems Group products and talk about open architecture, the UNIX operating environment, networking and connectivity. I was able to attend a half day review of the event with various media and industry observers, hearing the new DSG president, Bob Kavner, and his vice-presidents vow that AT&T will remain an aggressive, important player in the computer industry. Kavner, et al., insist that AT&T now recognizes that customers indeed have a choice and that AT&T must listen to remain competitive, and offer timely and reasonably-priced solutions to customer needs. There is much activity and controversy in the world of UNIX computing at the moment, with some of the top computing companies forming another "foundation" to study UNIX needs and promulgate "open" architecture standards. AT&T, SUN, and a few others, have not joined this foundation as yet for various reasons. One expressed view is that IBM (for example) has demonstrated in the past a stance in favor of closed, proprietary systems, a lack of truly open connectivity, and several different operating systems within it's own products. AT&T waits to see if IBM and cronies will truly go OPEN in the UNIX area. It was supposed that this "foundation" will not be able to bring a standard UNIX product to the user right away, as groups seldom agree and work well in these joint endeavors. On the other hand, AT&T has in place now the widely used UNIX System V. Amid all of this, a delightful, upbeat laser-mirrors- sound-and-smoke show module was used to underscore AT&T Data System Group's "Headed for the Future" determination. I was surprised to find AT&T so lacking in conservatism at this point! While reporters grilled Kavner and the executives on UNIX issues, I spoke with Larry Dooling, national VP of Marketing & Sales Support. I reminded Dooling, and he agreed, that we MS-DOS users were not going away and that we expect continued support of our machines. Again, I sensed the spirit of listening and reacting to customer needs, a new-found gospel within DSG. Dooling and I discussed the growth of users groups briefly and the need for a headquarters level support office. I intend to follow-up with additional letters and calls to the New Jersey executives. Elsewhere in this issue you will find an ad for the Easy Key publication, Hard Disk Made Easy. This remarkable little booklet is a an outline of DOS commands related to disk files and directories. It is a handy reference without a lot of in depth "why" to explain each item. A couple of experienced users at my office picked up some tips and new commands from the book. The 8.5 x 11 inch book has only 48 pages; the binding is the plastic comb variety that lets the booklet open and lay flat on your desk in use. It is a bit plain -- lacking in graphic illustrations and fancy press work. One diagram that attempts to relate DOS commands and a tree of directories and files is too busy and confusing at first. But, I think you will like the book as a reference or a training aid. The publisher is a small company (set in the gold country foothills), yet they say they have attracted a large customer base of corporations using or recommending the book. I will bring my copy to the June meeting for examination. I believe the publisher will offer a discount to our members. If you like it "made easy", this is for you! If you need more sophisticated detail, you will find Wolverton's Running MS-DOS or the Norton Utilities and Disk Guide more to your liking. MENTORS ******* We are still updating our list of "mentors", to be published in the Newsletter. If you have a special area of expertise, be it hardware or software, and you can spend a few moments from time to time providing help to other members, contact Joe Mahoney, Joe Lipsig, or Ed Ely, and we'll add you to the list. This has been a great help to many members, and we hope to expand this method of sharing our knowledge and experience. GEM AS AN OPERATING ENVIRONMENT ******************************* Barry Newman In April 1984 Pacific Bell began moving the first of the its Corporate Staff into the new San Ramon complex. The complex would eventually accommodate 7300 employees occupying 1,750,00 square feet of office space. The story that follows details the history of one small 450 person segment of this work force and tries to explain the background and rationale that led to the selecting of DIGITAL RESEARCH's software product GEM as the operating system on their PC's. I hope that providing this history will assist others involved in any similar software and hardware evaluation. About the same time the first employees were moving to San Ramon, a task force was being formed within the Comptroller's Disbursement Accounting Department, whose purpose would be the selection of hardware and software for the work force that would be moving to the new quarters. The work force that was involved consisted of 450 employees. The makeup of the force was about 50 managers, 25 clerical, 60 manual methods and 320 programmers. The programmers were divided into 2 groups, 240 working on a Burroughs main frame and 80 working an IBM. The first thing the task force decided was that they had to have an acronym for themselves. After many long hours of debate one was chosen: WIMP (Work Station Implementation Persons). Prior to the formation of the WIMPS, a much smaller task force had developed a set of targets and goals that were to be accomplished by the WIMPS. These objectives boiled down to a rather simplistic objective. Provide an environment that would best support current and future technology in the areas of Office Automation Systems (OAS) and Computer Assisted Software Engineering (CASE). With these as the basic guidelines the WIMPS realized very quickly that the best approach to the problem was to develop a phased transition and that their task would be to concentrate on selecting a "foundation" upon which future phases could develop upon. With this in mind it was decided that a basic workstation configuration with the ability to connect to a multitude of main frame and Local Area Networks would provide the optimum flexibility. After much investigation and cost benefit analysis a decision was reached and the PC was selected as the hardware device that was to function as the initial workstation. It was at this point that an evaluation of the user community revealed that, since 90% of the people had no PC background and of those 75% currently used "dumb" terminals, PC training became a major issue. In addition, the need to provide some fundamental word processing and graphics capability further complicated matters. During this time frame, one of the WIMPS, Roger Pogue (credit where credit is due) had uncovered and was running trials on GEM, a product of DRI (Digital Research Inc.), within a work group that consisted of about 25 people. The most obvious facet that attracted us was the very obvious MACINTOSH-type interface that GEM provided, that is, "point & click". When we measured GEM against the major criteria we had been given for PC software for the workstation, minimum training required and, within reason, maximum word processing and graphics capability, we both became convinced that GEM fit the bill. The original GEM COLLECTION consisted of GEM DESKTOP, a fundamental hard disk manager and DOS shell, GEM WRITE, a clone of VOLKSWRITER DELUXE, and GEM PAINT. It soon became apparent that GEM PAINT was not the type of graphics package that we needed but that another product, GEM DRAW, was. Negotiations with DRI led to the substitution of GEM DRAW for GEM PAINT in the "COLLECTION" and to an eventual site license. (We have since added GEM WORDCHART to the package). In conjunction with DRI, a one day training course was developed and was attended by each of the smaller work groups prior to moving from San Francisco to San Ramon. The 450 people were moved in stages spanning April to July 1986. It is now May 1988 and we have been utilizing GEM for the last two years. I would like to say that 100% of the people "jumped right on the bandwagon" but that was not the case. Two major problems surfaced immediately. One was that those people that were already using PC's, mainly the clerical and manual methods folks, had already locked into other word processors, Wordstar, MultiMate, etc. The second problem was within the programming staff, which consists of people who, to this day, persist in using the PC as simply a dumb terminal (change is never easy for any of us). I should add one more item: those people who outgrew GEMWRITE and GEMDRAW's capability within six months to a year and are constantly pressing us for more and better tools. All in all I feel we succeeded in what we set out to do. If the WIMPS failed in any area it was in not maintaining closer contact with the work force after the move and realizing the need of select groups for bigger and better software tools. Of necessity I've condensed a lot of our experiences and am more than willing to discuss, at length, my opinions in this area. P.S. The PC selected for 250 of the people was the AT&T 6300. INSTALLING A SECOND (EXTERNAL) HARD DRIVE ***************************************** David Calabrese I had run out of room on my 10MB hard disk on my 6300 and decided a second hard disk would give me more room and allow me to use the old 10MB as a backup disk. I had read several articles on using hard disks larger than 32MB, and I ended up buying the PC Magazine "editor's choice", a Miniscribe 72MB from Lifetime Systems. It came with the "editor's choice" DISK MANAGER software to format and partition the large disk. I told them I needed a cable to hook both disks to my western digital board and they threw one in. It was for an IBM only. In order to eliminate problems with such an expensive purchase, I had first called the AT&T Technical Hot Line. They told me it would work, and sold me some cables. I called both DISK MANAGER and Miniscribe to ask about compatibility and to help with settings. Sounds smart? WRONG! I ended up with the wrong cables and wrong set-up information. It took me four long evenings to figure that out. I probably hooked up all possible combinations of cables, dip switch settings and jumpers. I don't recommend this, but don't be too worried about accidentally hurting something. I ran the DISK MANAGER Program about 100 times using all options and generating most of its error messages. It is very good because one can always back out of it. It won't hurt itself or the machine, and is easy to use. I finally set up my machine with one external 72MB disk divided as drive C: and drive D: (a small DOS partition, and one remaining large volume of about 70MB). The old internal 10MB disk is designated as drive E: and is used as a backup. The two hard disk motors hum quite a bit and probably lead to operator fatigue after several hours. I recommend you also purchase keyboard and monitor extender cables from AT&T, and get the CPU under the desk. Put the second hard disk as far away as possible or sound-insulate it. For the external disk, I used a standard Bud Box CU 2110-B and made cutouts and bolted the disk to it. It's not fancy, but it's back under the desk behind the CPU. Before the actual installation begins, it is helpful to consider how the computer works. When the computer is first turned on, the BIOS scurries around and checks for DOS in the A: drive. If it is not there, the BIOS tries to find a disk with a control jumper wire in the first or "terminator" position. That tells it to look there and only there for the DOS command files. The next thing it does it look on that disk for a partition marked MS-DOS. It will look in that partition (which is automatically and always assigned as drive C: regardless as to where it is physically located) for COMMAND.COM and other command files. Everything else should be straightforward. Some terms to be aware of: CONTROL CABLE: a 34-pin ribbon cable that goes from the hard disk control card to one or two disks. The disks can be cabled in series (daisy chain) or in a "Y" with each end terminating at a disk and a connector in the middle to attach to the controller. Connectors at the ends of the cable must be correctly wired for the disks that they attach to. The end that goes to the Miniscribe has wires #24 through #29 flipped (k#24 wire attaches to #29 pin on the connector, etc). DATA CABLE: a 20-pin ribbon cable going from the hard disk control card to a hard disk. One is required for each disk. JUMPER or JUMPER BLOCK: a tiny black block that bridges two resister wires. Usually located under or next to the 34-pin connector on the hard disk. TERMINATOR: the same jumper or jumper block when it is located on the first set of pins. A terminator identifies that disk to the BIOS as drive C: (where COMMAND.COM is located). The jumper can be in that position on only one disk (you choose). The other disk must have its jumper block on the second or maybe third or fourth wires. RE-STRAPPING: removing the controller card and checking DIP switch and jumper settings against the listings in the owner's manual. Reset as necessary. Also check that the #1-20 pin cable is plugged into #1 slot on controller card (directly under the 34-pin socket) and goes to the disk that is to be the "first" disk. STANDARD DISK DRIVE: A disk drive supported by the ROM BIOS of your computer. Check owner's manual. This is DISK MANAGER terminology. LOW LEVEL FORMAT: usually done ny the manufacturer of the disk. DISK MANAGER also does it. AT&T has a program called LOWFORM but the instructions are not included to easily work with two hard disks -- AT&T information has not kept up with AT&T hardware. (editors note: there seem to be several programs available that are called LOWFORM. The version that is available through the user group fully supports two disk drives, but documentation is minimal) PARTITIONING: dividing up the available disk storage space into partitions, or volumes. Each partition will be assigned a drive letter (see below). DRIVE C: or MS-DOS Partition: (#1 Partition on an NEC). The only MS-DOS partition allowed in the system . It contains DOS command files and whatever else you want to put in there. DOS-DATA Partition: any other partition. One can run programs and store data the same as if it were a formatted floppy in the "A" drive. DISK MANAGER calls it a READ/WRITE Partition, and allows any size, up to the maximum size of the disk. DOS allows any size up to 32MB. DOS FORMAT or HIGH LEVEL FORMAT: a procedure carried out by the user after partitioning and before installing files. Let's look at some ways to hook up and divide up the hard disks into different drive designations, say (C:) through (F:), that will work with MS-DOS 3.2 FDISK command (without DISK MANAGER): The 10MB disk could be physically hooked up as disk-1 and designated drive (C:), with the 72MB wired as disk-2 and set up as drives (D:), (E:) and (F:) (three 24MB DOS-DATA partitions). Or, the 72MB disk physically could be hooked up as disk 1 with one DOS partition and several DOS-DATA partitions (limit 32MB), with the 10MB wired as disk-2, assigned the next available drive letter as a 10MB DOS-DATA partition (drive letters are assigned automatically by DOS when the system is first booted). If one needs larger volumes than are allowed by the 32MB DOS limit, or security, then the DISK MANAGER is the way to go. Keep in mind that the DOS FDISK command will not recognize or work with DISK MANAGER partitions. However, that is not a problem because DISK MANAGER has its own FDISK equivalent. The DOS FDISK is not needed. DISK MANAGER also provides the option of creating a read only partition that cannot be changed. It can create partitions as large as the disk (with the exception of the MS-DOS partition). The 10MB disk could be physically hooked up as disk-1 (drive C:) and the 72MB hooked up as disk-2 (drive D: with one 72MB DOS-DATA partition). Or, the 72MB disk could be physically hooked up as disk-1, with a DOS partition (up to 32MB) and one or more partitions (no limit, up to the maximum space remaining on the disk). The 10MB could be set up as a read-only partition after data has been stored on it. SETUP & INSTALLATION OF TWO HARD DISKS This procedure will be useful for: 1. A single hard disk less than or more than 32MB. 2. A second internal hard disk. 3. A second hard disk externally attached to an AT&T 6300. Also useful for any other machine with a small CPU case that requires an external disk. SETUP: 1. Check owner's manual to make sure the disk to be bought is supported by your ROM BIOS. For the 6300 use ROM 1.43 and pages 1-14 to 1-18 (or check the DRIVE TABLES included in this issue of the newsletter -ed). 2. Inspect the controller card to locate dip switches and check for two 20-pin cable sockets and one 34-pin cable socket (if you are setting up two disks). If one hard disk is already installed, the 20 pin cable should be in the #1 socket. 3. Set DIP switches according to manual and disks. Make sure that the jumper block is on the #1 position on the disk that will hold DOS system files. 4. Check to see that the cables will be long enough to go to the back of the new disk(s) and if external, to allow for a safe location of the disk. The 6300 needs 12" of cable for the 20 pin cable to reach just outside of the CPU. The 34 pin cable needs 12" from the controller card socket to the internal disk and then 12" from the controller card socket to reach outside the CPU. The controller card socket is the center of a "Y" configuration. The external disk can be in a box with its own power supply or use a 4 wire power cable in a "Y" shape with the cable to the internal disk as short as possible and the cable for the external disk 24", plus the distance to disk (I used the standard AT&T power supply). These dimensions will get the cables out of the CPU. Add whatever length you need to the cables so that they will reach the chosen external hard disk location. There is a small knockout section on the left front side of the 6300 to allow the cables to exit. File any sharp plastic point remaining after removing the knockout section. IBM AT's, or machines allowing 2 internal hard disks, use standard length cables usually available from the hard disk vendor if asked for. 5. The jumper block on the 2nd hard disk (not C: drive) can not be on the #1 (terminator) position. It is usually on #2 position (check your manual). Well that's the hookup. Use the DOS FDISK and FORMAT commands according to the owner's manual, or run a program like DISK MANAGER. Be aware that the partitions that DISK MANAGER makes can not be operated on by the DOS FDISK command. ASK THE "WIZ" ************* Mark Almeida BIGGER AND BETTER HARDDISK For those of you seeking larger and faster hard drives for the PC 6300, I may just have the answer. I was running out of room on my 20MB drive, and happened to read a series of articles in InfoWorld about a Miniscribe drive using an RLL controller that would provide 64MB of space at a much higher transfer rate. The articles were all talking about AT machines, of course, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I shopped around, and finally was able to locate the drive (a Miniscribe 3650) and an RLL controller (Adaptec 2072A). I put the drive and controller in my system (after doing a full backup) and ran tests at various sector interleave factors. What I finished with is worth looking at. My original drive was a Seagate ST-225, in concert with a Western Digital WD1002-WX2 MFM controller, sector interleaved at 5:1. The rated access time for that drive is 65ms. When I used standard benchmarks to test the drive, these were the results: SPINTEST reported: 6 revolutions to transfer one complete track at a rate of 104.4KB/second. ATDISK reported: Track-to-track seek time: 21.4ms. Average seek time: 83.3ms. Transfer rate (effective) 82.5KB/second. I then installed the Miniscribe 3650 drive with the Adaptec 2072A (8-bit RLL) controller, and ran the same benchmarks with the following results: SPINTEST reported: 5 revolutions to transfer one complete track at a rate of 153.6KB/second (147.1% faster)/ ATDISK reported: Track-to-track seek time: 16.3ms (76.6% faster). Average seek time: 47.8ms (57.3% faster). Transfer rate (effective) 105.2KB/second (127.5% faster). The Miniscribe is rated at 61ms access time as an MFM drive; this drive is NOT RLL-certified, but it is exactly the same physical drive as the RLL-certified Miniscribe 3675 -- it just costs less. To contrast the results with this drive to a supposedly high-speed MFM drive, I tested my PC 6310 in my office (it has a Seagate ST-251, which is a 38ms rated access MFM drive) with the following results: SPINTEST reported: 2 revolutions to transfer one complete track at a rate of 261.1KB/second. ATDISK reported: Track-to-track seek time: 7.6ms. Average seek time: 37.2ms. Transfer rate (effective) 253.3KB/second. This means that the Miniscribe drive with an 8-bit RLL controller in an 8MHz machine provides approximately 60% of the performance of the high speed 16-bit MFM drive in a 10MHz machine -- pretty impressive. Even if we average the transfer rate differences, it still provides a whopping 137.3% improvement in transfer rate over the ST225 with the added benefit of 64MB of formatted capacity. To make the best use of the drive, it is necessary to determine the optimal sector interleave. To determine the optimum interleave for the new drive, I used another product recommended by Steve Gibson, his own SPINRITE. SPINRITE, from Gibson Research, retails for $59.00. It makes tuning your hard disk performance a snap. In addition, it can help to predict and prevent disk errors, lessening the risk of seeing the dreaded "General failure on drive C" message, or worse, a "File not found" message on one of your critical data files. SPINRITE can rewrite the low-level format on your disk, including changing the interleave, without disturbing the existing data. This means you don't HAVE TO do a full backup and restore to change the interleave(although I DO recommend that you do a full backup before running SPINRITE). The time SPINRITE takes to do a full low-level reformat ranges from a few minutes to many hours depending on how deep a level of verification and error checking you want. SPINRITE customizes itself to your exact combination of hardware, ie. CPU/disk drive/controller, so the optimizations it does are absolutely the best for your personal machine. The license is very liberal, allowing you to use SPINRITE on all machines which YOU PERSONALLY own. All in all, a very excellent drive maintenance/optimization utility. I rate SPINRITE a five-star (*****) winner !! The Miniscribe 3650 is going for $399 $459 in current adds in the Computer Currents and MicroTimes magazines. The Adaptec 2072A will run $150 $180 depending on where you buy it. This means that for a price between $549 $639 retail you can have a 64MB drive that provides a 137% performance increase over the ST225. Anyone who is interested in knowing more about this can contact me; my phone number is in the list elsewhere in the newsletter. Mark Almeida "The Wiz" (Questions for this column can be submitted to me through the Editor of the newsletter, or mailed directly to me: Ask The Wiz, 1516 Casa Loma Way, Suisun, CA 94585. I may not reply to all questions, but I will pass on to our technical support those that I don't feel qualified to answer. - The Wiz) USER GROUP TECH-TIPS #8 *********************** L.J.(Larry)Risner AT&T Tech Staff FORMATTING HARD DRIVES This month I would like to explain the how's and why's of preparing hard drives for service. The steps in preparing a hard drive are really very simple. The confusion is created because things happen that we aren't told about and the things we see aren't always what they appear to be. Darn, more confusion. Let's follow the steps that must be taken and I will explain what's happening. First, turn off the system power, and remove the power cord, if you haven't done so already. You will need to determine the "drive type" (see DRIVE TABLES elsewhere in this issue), then set the motherboard and HDU controller DIP switches to the correct settings for the drive, or drives (up to two are supported). These settings are included after the DRIVE TABLES in this issue, for systems using the internal HDU BIOS on the system motherboard. On a 6300, when using external HDU BIOS (on the HDU controller card), consult the manufacturer of the card, or contact the AT&T Technical Hotline for information on supported cards. Finally, reboot the computer, if it was not already turned off, and you can proceed with low level formatting and partitioning procedures. A) LOW LEVEL FORMAT This process creates the "logical" surface on the drive. It forms the sectors on the tracks according to the interleave factor (See note). Each sector has room for 512 data bytes and there is usually 17 sectors/track. A little math tells us that each track has a data capacity of 8704 bytes. This operation is required regardless of what you plan to use the drive for. Note: LOWFORM (the AT&T low level format utility available through the user group) uses the standard "drive 0" for the first drive in the system, and "drive 1" for the second drive (LOWFORM is set up to work on the 6300, 6300+ and 6310, but should also work with the 6312 and 6386). B) BAD TRACK FORMAT This is the most important and most misunderstood operation. The important thing here is that you always look at the list of heads/cylinders attached to the top of the hard drive, enter these into the "bad track table", AND FORMAT THEM. If you do not format them, nothing happens (the "bad track table" is non-existent on the drive). Each track is a separate entity on the drive and to format one as bad places special "ID's" in the track and a "FF" hex pattern in all data bytes. This is done so that DOS, UNIX or some other operating system can map out these tracks. If you do not perform this step, and the drive has media defects, you will regret it later when you lose your data. Remember, a bad track table does not exist - it is a human interface mechanism only. C) FDISK Using this you will specify how the drive will be partitioned for DOS. This program builds an area at the front of the hard drive and places this information in it for the operating system to reference as needed. D) DOS FORMAT This builds the file allocation tables, directory area, and boot sector area of the drive and prepares the data areas for data. It also knows how to handle the formatted bad tracks. With the completion of this step the drive is now ready for use. So there you have it. Four steps which must be followed in the order shown and, most important, the bad tracks MUST be formatted as bad to ensure data integrity. Practice has shown that the above procedures will be adequate for 99% of drives placed in service and the remaining 1% will be replaced for other reasons (mechanical, etc.). Note: Interleave is a method of spacing the sectors on the tracks. When a sector is read the data is passed to a buffer on the HDU controller. This data must then be passed to the CPU RAM and the buffer prepared for the next sector read. Oops, that took too much time, now we have to wait for the drive to bring the next sector back around so it can be read (the drive is spinning at 3600 RPM). To allow time for data handling if we make every third sector the next in sequence then perhaps when the controller is ready for the next sector read, the drive will already be positioned for it. Because this timing is related to many factors, the optimum interleave factor may vary between CPU models, even with the same hard drive unit. HARD DRIVES TYPES AND SETTINGS ****************************** (5-23-88) Larry Risner Hard drive information for all AT&T processor models: +------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6300 | | 1.21 or earlier BIOS (January 1988) | |------------------------------------------------| | TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION | |------------------------------------------------| | 00 - 5M Standard 5�" | | 01 - 24M | | 02 - 15M | | 03 - 10M 306 04 Standard 5�" | | 04 - 5M Syquest 3Q306 | | 05 - 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I | | *06 - 20M 612 04 Seagate ST225 | | *07 - 20M 612 04 OPE XM 5220 | | *08 - 21M 640 04 CMI 6426 | | | | * Not supported by BIOS 1.1 and earlier | | (use 1.21 and later version for 20MB drives) | +------------------------------------------------+ +------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6300 | | 1.43 BIOS (January 1988) | |------------------------------------------------| | TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION | |------------------------------------------------| | 00 - 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I | | 01 - 20M 612 04 Seagate ST225 | | 02 - 20M 612 04 Tandon TM 262 | | 03 - 10M 306 04 Standard 5�" | | 04 - 20M 612 04 Miniscribe 3425 | | 05 - 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I | | 06 - 20M 612 04 Seagate ST225 | | 07 - 20M 612 04 OPE XM 5220 | | 08 - 21M 640 04 CMI 6426 | | 09 - 42M 1024 05 Miniscribe 6053 | | 10 - 40M 981 05 Tandon TM 755 | | 11 - 40M 981 05 CDC WREN II | | 12 - 53M 925 07 CDC WREN 2 | | 13 - 68M 1024 08 Micropolis 1325 | | 14 - 40M 868 06 Seagate ST 251 | +------------------------------------------------+ +------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6300 PLUS | | (January 1988) | |------------------------------------------------| | TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION | |------------------------------------------------| | 00 - 10M 306 04 Standard 85ms | | 01 - 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I | | 02 - 20M 640 04 CMI 6426 | | *03 - 40M 981 05 Tandon TM755 | | 04 - 40M 977 05 Seagate ST405 | | 05 - 72M 1024 08 Miniscribe 6086 | | 06 - 72M 1024 08 Micropolis 1325 | | *07 - 20M 612 04 Seagate ST225 | | | |* These drives supported for use w/SIMULTASK(tm)| +------------------------------------------------+ +------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6300 WGS | | (April 1988) | |------------------------------------------------| | TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION | |------------------------------------------------| | 00 - 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I FH | | 01 - 20M 612 04 Seagate ST225 | | 02 - 20M 612 04 Tandon TM 262 | | 03 - 10M 306 04 Standard 5�" | | 04 - 42M 615 08 NEC D5146H | | 05 - 42M 820 06 OPE XM5340 | | 06 - 40M 820 06 Seagate ST251 | | 07 - 70M 823 10 NEC D5452 | | 08 - 40M 981 05 CDC WREN II | | 09 - 42M 981 05 Tandon TM 755 | | 10 - 71M 1024 08 Micropolis 1325 | | 11 - 80M 1024 09 Seagate ST4096 | | 12 - 40M 872 06 Rodime RO3055 | | 13 - 20M 612 04 OPE XM3220 | | 14 - Reserved | | 15 - 10M 306 04 Drv #1 STD - No #2 | +------------------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6310 & 6312 (January 1988) | |-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------| |TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION S | TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION S | |-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------| | 01 10M 306 04 STD 85ms 5� | 21 60M 820 06 Seagate ST227R | | 02 21M 615 04 Seagate ST225 | 22 60M 820 06 PE XM5340/60 | | 03 40M 925 05 CDC WREN II FH | 23 60M 615 08 NEC D5147H | | 04 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I FH | 24 150M 821 10 NEC D5652 ESDI| | 05 80M 1024 09 Seagate ST4096 | 25 150M 1022 08 Micropolis 1355 ESDI| | 06 42M 820 06 OPE XM5340 | 26 70M 1022 04 Micropolis 1353 ESDI| | 07 42M 615 08 NEC D4156H | 27 70M 823 10 NEC D5452 | | 08 42M 981 05 Tandon TM755 HH | 28 42M 615 08 | | 09 42M 981 05 CDC WREN II HH | 29 42M 615 08 | | 10 53M 1024 06 Micropolis 1325 FH | 30 42M 981 05 | | 11 55M 925 07 CDC WREN 2 FH | 31 Reserved | | 12 71M 1024 08 Micropolis 1325 FH | 32 " | | 13 71M 925 09 CDC WREN 2 FH | 33 " | | 14 44M 1024 05 Micropolis 1323A FH | 34 " | | 15 Reserved | 35 " | | 16 20M 612 04 OPE XM5220 3� | 36 " | | 17 20M 612 04 Tandon TM362 3� | | | 18 40M 820 06 Seagate ST251 HH | TYPE: Drive type S: Physical style | | 19 40M 872 06 Rodime RO3055 3� | CAP: Capacity in megabytes | | 20 20M 612 04 Miniscribe M8425 3� | CYL: # of Cylinders HD: # of heads | +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hard Drive "TYPE TABLE" for the AT&T6386/E WGS systems - (January 1988) | |-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------| |TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION S |TYPE CAP CYL HD DESCRIPTION S | |-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------| | 01 10M 306 04 STD 85ms 5� | 21 60M 820 06 Seagate ST227R | | 02 21M 615 04 Seagate ST225 3� | 22 60M 820 06 PE XM5340/60 | | 03 40M 925 05 CDC WREN II FH | 23 60M 615 08 NEC D5147H | | 04 30M 697 05 CDC WREN I FH | 24 150M 821 10 NEC D5652 ESDI| | 05 80M 1024 09 Seagate ST4096 | 25 150M 1021 08 Micropolis 1355 ESDI| | 06 42M 820 06 OPE XM5340 | 26 70M 1021 04 Micropolis 1353 ESDI| | 07 42M 615 08 NEC D4156H | 27 70M 823 10 NEC D5452 | | 08 42M 981 05 Tandon TM755 HH | 28 40M 820 08 Fujitsu M2227D | | 09 42M 981 05 CDC WREN II HH | 29 60M 820 08 Fujitsu M2227D RLL | | 10 53M 1024 06 Micropolis 1325 FH | 30 62M 981 05 CDC RLL | | 11 55M 925 07 CDC WREN 2 FH | 31 Reserved | | 12 71M 1024 08 Micropolis 1325 FH | 32 " | | 13 71M 925 09 CDC WREN 2 FH | 33 " | | 14 44M 1024 05 Micropolis 1323A FH | 34 " | | 15 Reserved | 35 " | | 16 20M 612 04 OPE XM5220 3� | 36 " | | 17 20M 612 04 Tandon TM362 3� | | | 18 40M 820 06 Seagate ST251 HH | TYPE: Drive type S: Physical style | | 19 40M 872 06 Rodime RO3055 3� | CAP: Capacity in megabytes. | | 20 20M 612 04 Miniscribe M8425 3� | CYL: # of Cylinders HD: # of heads | +-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ DIP SWITCH SETTINGS ******************* PC6300,PC6300 WGS (internal HDU BIOS) PC6300+ (internal HDU ROM BIOS) PC6300+ (using external HDU ROM BIOS) ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- Western Digital DTC Western Digital Motherboard D-SW1 +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 1 2 4 3 4 3 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 4 1 2 1 2 - - - - - - 3 3 - - - - X-X---------X-X X-X-----X-X X-X X---------+ | X-X-X-X---+ | X-X-----X-X | X-X-------+ +-----X | | | | | | | | | Drive1 Drive0 Drive1 Drive0 Drive0 Drive1 Drive0 Drive1 Notes: Drive "0" is the first drive and drive "1" is the second drive. On the above switches, the switch settings create a binary number that selects the hard drive "type" for drive-0 and drive-1 as determined by the hard drive tables for your machine and ROM BIOS version. Shorting the positions or setting the switch to "ON" corresponds to a binary zero. In other words, positions 1 through 4 shorted ("ON") equals type 0 (binary 0000). All open ("OFF") is type 15 (binary 1111). The order of the binary positions is not sequential - the positions assigned to drive-0 and the positions assigned to drive-1 are interspaced. (The first line of numbers shows the physical switch positions, the second line shows the effective positions for drive-0 and drive-1). In all cases, determine the correct binary value by reading the value in the order 4-3-2-1, with position 1 being the "least significant" value). Switch position settings can also be obtained from the AT&T TECHNICAL HOTLINE (800) 922-0354. The "AT" class (286/386) CPU drive types are set with the customer diagnostics program (not by DIP switches). If a hard drive is not listed in the DRIVE TABLES, or is not shown in the diagnostics program, you MIGHT be able to find a close match in the tables, and you MIGHT be able to get everything to work properly. For predictable results, use a supported drive. The above tables are determined by the drive parameters resident in the HDU area of the AT&T internal ROM BIOS. To use the internal HDU BIOS, set DIP switch 1, position 3 on the 6300 motherboard to "ON" (set it to "OFF" to use the HDU controller card BIOS). Even when using the internal HDU BIOS, the system board looks to the switch settings on the HDU controller to determine the drive type. If external HDU BIOS is used, the tables are not effective and should not be referred to (contact the manufacturer of the card, or the AT&T Technical Hotline). Using the tables: - Determine the model of the drive. - Set the "type" options for the HDU used. - Reboot the CPU. - Continue to low level formatting and partitioning. L.J.(Larry)Risner (415) 460-5254 SOFTWARE REVIEW: SPINRITE HARD DISC UTILITY ******************************************* Bill Todd I've just received my copy of Spinrite in the mail, and anxiously applied it my hard discs. To simply say this is a hard disc utility is a severe understatement. The results are simply great! The program's author, Steve Gibson of Gibson Research in Irvine, CA, is a columnist on INFOWORLD magazine. While I may not always agree with his comments, I'll say that this program is a MUST HAVE if you have a hard disc installed in your AT&T! Steve wrote about 500k lines of assembler code in this multi- faceted program. You're now able to optimize your interleave factor, low-level format without losing your data, park your heads and assorted other features. Steve makes good sense and good recommendations in his easy to read and follow manual. I install fast hard discs, and tune hard discs up as part of my services; up to this point it was a long, arduous and expensive proposition if you're to do it right.... Spinrite helps cut through the mysteries of the rotating discs, and if you're interested, you'll learn a whale of a lot about your hard disc. (You'll also save a lot of time in the process). The nice part about it is that the "techie" part is optional. The material is written in Steve's inimitable style, and is very easy for the layperson to comprehend. The whole process, if you really want a performance hard disc, and want a maximum surface verification on the disk, takes up to eight hours or so on a Seagate ST251, 40 Megger. (Yours may take more or less depending on size.) Mothering the thing through isn't necessary; it monitors itself, and appears near bullet- proof. You don't even have to do the low-level formatting in one session: you're allowed to exit and restart where you left off. Neat feature!! I had no problems installing and using Spinrite. As I write this I'm "Spinrite-ing" the Seagate ST238 in my bulletin board system; it's in another room, low level formatting it's silicon heart out. My interleave was optimized the hard way, but I ran the low level format anyway to find and correct errors revealed by the program. The graphic presentation on this program is exceptional! If you don't know where you are within the program, it sure isn't the programmer's fault. Another great feature is that I'm able to optimize a hard disc for someone else without having software hassles with agreements, etc. Steve's real world views are very much appreciated by this writer. If I tune or install your hard disc using Spinrite, I'll recommend that you buy Spinrite. Steve recommends that Spinrite be applied in the "extremely thorough" mode the first time through, and that it be reapplied at three month intervals. The second time through takes lots less time than the "extremely thorough" mode. I generally do not handle software, but in this case, I make an exception in order to offer you an extremely fine program. As usual, I offer discount pricing to AT&T users group members on all my products and services. The program sells for $59 if you go to Gibson Research; I'll have it priced at $53. If you're looking for a super hard disc utility, look no further. There's others out there, but none compare! I can't speak highly enough about this product. Once in a very great while, a program comes along that does what it says it'll do. This program is heads and shoulders above anything else I've seen. You'll come away with a newly found sense of hard disc knowledge if you use it as prescribed by "Dr. Gibson." I use it in my shop, and have no reservations about recommending it to you. RATING: 0=poor 1=fair 2=avg 3=above avg 4=excellent 5=outstanding Installation ease: 5 Documentation: 5 Thoroughness: 4 Ease of use: 4 Flexibility: 5 Graphics: 5+ Bottom line: Get it! You'll wonder why somebody hasn't written it before this. Good show, Steve! ADS *** HARD DISK MADE EASY THE KEY TO USING A HARD DISK For MS-DOS * a REAL how-to book $15.25 per book, post-paid (40 % discount for 10 or more) The EASYKEY Company P.O. BOX 1758, Murphys, Ca 95247 (209) 728-3169 FOR SALE LOGITECH Modula-2, Version 3.03 Developer's Kit, Incl. Sources REPERTOIRE (PMI) Latest Version 3 Excellent Modula-2 Textbooks ALL FOR $275.00 Tom Herzfeld (415) 584-0102 LEX COMPUTER SYSTEMS Ralph Simpson, Sales Rep (415) 654-9013 Emeryville (408) 432-7124 San Jose 20% OFF MOST AT&T PRODUCTS FOR AT&T USERS GROUP MEMBERS OTHER LINES INCLUDE HP, TI, QUME, RACAL-VADIC, MICOM, etc. FOR SALE AT&T 313 Monochrome Monitor AT&T 301 Keyboard AT&T PC6300 STARLAN Network AT&T PC6300 User's Guide AT&T 6300+ UNIX/all 8 modules AT&T STARLAN Network Extension (All New, with Manuals) Kathryn Nickerson 408-446-5210 AT&T 6300 ACCELERATOR CARDS SOTA 10.0 or 12.5 MHZ 80286 1 MEG DRAM , EXPANDS TO 16 MEG! SOCKET FOR 80287 RUN OS/2, HI-RES GRAPHICS, LANS For information: Call Bill Todd TODD PC3 (408) 263-8925 AT&T PC6300 SPEEDUP UPGRADE PC6300 TO "AT" SPEED 25% INCREASED THROUGHPUT AND PRODUCTIVITY BY HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS FROM $225, OTHER SPEEDS SOON Info/Test Data: Call Bill Todd TODD PC3 (408) 263-8925 SNELLING & SNELLING World's Largest Employment Service THE MARTIN AGENCY Linda Martin Owner/Manager (415) 463-3850 6000 Stoneridge Mall Road Suite 100, Pleasanton, CA 94566 EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING POLICY ****************************** This newsletter serves as a forum for members of the Bay Area AT&T PC Users Group, an independent volunteer organization. Opinions expressed are those of the authors or editorial staff, and unless otherwise clearly stated, should not be interpreted as endorsements by the Users Group, or by AT&T. Unsigned articles have been prepared by the editors. We will print articles, reviews and letters as they are submitted and as space and time permits. Modem or diskette preferred. First choice: Wordperfect. Or WordStar, MultiMate or ASCII text. (Please indicate which in the file name or on the diskette label, and include a printout for reference). Advice, help, comments and criticism are welcome. For now, we will provide information on meetings in all locations in this newsletter. Copy deadline for the next issue of the Newsletter is June 22. Many thanks to those who have contributed to the newsletter. Please keep the information coming. Display ads and classifieds, maximum 9 text lines (see inside): $5.00 per issue, free to members. NEWSLETTER EDITOR Edward Ely W:(415) 836-0910 H:(415) 641-1556 379 Day St. S.F. Ca 94131 ASSOCIATE EDITORS Allen Houck (415) 828-8132 Bob Larsen (408) 224-4422 BAY AREA AT&T PC USERS GROUP P.O. Box 410321 S.F. Ca 94141-0321 ********************************** OFFICERS, NORTH BAY SECTION PRESIDENT Joe Mahoney Data: (415) 584-6510 W:(415) 540-2219 H:(415) 586-8376 371 Joost Ave, S.F. Ca 94131 VICE-PRESIDENT Maurice Aranda (415) 972-0669 SECRETARY (position vacant) TREASURER Frank Davidoff (415) 237-3865 MEMBER-AT-LARGE Mark Almeida "The Wiz" Data:(707) 429-1035 W:(415) 823-9553 H:(707) 429-9122 LIBRARIAN Kevin Newman (415) 933-7391 504 Waterbery Dr. Pleasant Hill Ca 94523 DATABASE KEEPER Bill Goebner (415) 823-6931 OFFICERS, SILICON VALLEY SECTION PRESIDENT Joe Lipsig (408) 522-4114 VICE PRESIDENT Ron Mitchell SECRETARY Kathryn Nickerson TREASURER Rick Fletcher MEMBER AT LARGE Bill Todd (408) 263-8925 EASY ACCESS BBS, WITH AT&T SIG (300/1200/2400 8/N/1) (415) 829-6027 Tony Waddell, Sysop SOQUEL BBS in Santa Cruz 24 hrs. (300/1200/2400 8/N/1) (408) 462-6329 Dick Steele, Sysop HACKNEY'S HIDEOUT BBS, WITH AT&T USERS CONFERENCE (1200/2400 8/N/1) (916) 961-1042 Rich Hackney, Sysop PC3 BBS (PC3 product info) 7 days 8AM-8PM (1200 8/N/1) (408) 263-9015 Bill Todd, Sysop AT&T USERS GROUP LIAISON Jim Keeton (415) 442-2692 AT&T PUBLIC RELATIONS Mark Dill (408) 995-3966 AT&T TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Hal Shields (415) 442-3756 AT&T TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Larry Risner (415) 460-5254 AT&T TECHNICAL CONSULTANT Syd Reid (408) 522-4802 AT&T TECHNICAL HOTLINE (800) 922-0354 AT&T PARTS ORDERING (800) 922-PART AT&T CUSTOMER INFORMATION CENTER (800) 432-6600. AT&T SERVICE CENTER 2200 Williams Street (at Doolittle), San Leandro (415) 678-1300 / 8AM - 4:30PM, M-F This following list of AT&T support boards and boards with an AT&T sub-board or conference was originally compiled by Ken Camp, who can be contacted via one of the boards shown in 415 area or via FIDO NetMail at 161/42 (The Records Department 415-426-0470). Dick Steele and Ed Ely have provided additional information. Please help us verify these numbers. AT&T Nat'l Sup.Ctr. 201-769-5616 201-769-6397 Flea Market 201-446-1665 AT&T Development 201-658-5345 ITM Database 201-943-5419 The Right Choice 201-974-8317 AT&T Info. Exchange 201-980-2012 ASCII Neighborhood 203-934-9852 Deathstar 301-839-0705 Black Hole 305-260-6397 Florida Death Star 305-660-6300 INDY Net One 317-846-8675 CBM Computer Center 402-391-3102 The Soquel BBS 408-462-6329 Easy Access 415-829-6027 The Unknown 516-486-4705 Ed Hopper's Board 713-782-5454 Software Safari 717-226-1943 So. Cal. AT&T BBS 818-954-0530 Omega Systems BBS 501-565-8220 Hackney's Hideout 916-961-1042 Katy Korner RBBS-PC 713-578-6443 Phoenix BBS 305-791-9574 Tri-Borough BBS 201-838-8504 The Boardroom TBBS 213-498-6425