🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1jph4kINNqur@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> ig06@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Goetz) writes:
>
>200 DM+pp for a new VIDC did cure the problem but if the situation is
>as Ralph Barrett wrote in his e-mail:
>
>- The A305/310 ... suffer from this problem. It is due to the lack of any
>- protection circuitry on the video interface. Later machines have additional
>- components ... to protect the VIDC.
>
>then I'll need another 200 in a week when my brother visits us with
>his 3 year old monitor-cable-unplugger ...
>
>Or does anybody know if such protection circuitry exists for the A310
>and if so who is selling it, how much does it cost and can you install it
>yourself ?

It *is* possible to add some protection for the VIDC, by adding some
diodes to the output or something, but I'm not too clear on the details
and I didn't bother, myself. If you are careful with the machine, and make
sure you never plug or unplug the monitor cable when either the computer
or the monitor are switched on, then you shouldn't have any other
troubles.

>Here's another ?
>
>I have problems when rendering text using anti-aliased fonts - now that I
>have 4 Mb, a new VIDC, AtomWide's Enhancer and a colour monitor !
>
>If FontManager 1.15 is installed !Draw and !DrawPlus have no troubles with
>Acorns 'standard' fonts (Corpus,Porthouse,Trinity - I am RO2)
>
>When FontManager 2.44 is loaded and I try one of those outline fonts from
>Newcastle then:
>
>- !Draw doesn't display anything
>- !DrawPlus displays text only when I'm typing and the line disappears (with
>  a beep) after a RETURN. Now I select it and switch to the system font -
>  it appears again

Well I don't remember the various version numbers of the font manager, but
some things I do remember are...
FontManager depends on a module called SuperSample. The SWI numbers for
this module changed at some point, so if you are using a new fontmanager
with an old supersample module, it would be understandable if things
didn't work properly.
Secondly, I found that 'RISC OS 3' fontmanagers didn't work properly under
RISC OS 2 anyway - they come very close to working, and are fine on the
screen, but when it comes to printing, some of the colours come out wrongly
(eg black fonts come out as a grey shade). If you ask me, it's not worth
the trouble to deal with: just upgrade to RO 3.1 and be done with it!

Graham.

In article <1jph4kINNqur@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> ig06@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Goetz) writes:
>Does the FontManager 2.44 rely on some 'hardware configuration' ?

It's interesting that CC does not supply version 2.44 with any of its software.
Even Artworks is supplied with version 2.42 - I doubt if this is for technical
reasons, more likely that they would have to pay Acorn more to distribute
version 2.44.

Also, can anyone comment on stories that there are RISC OS 3.10 ROM sets
in circulation which contain different versions of the FontManager? I
have had great trouble printing with my LaserDirect using the built-in
fontmanager (not FastText), and have heard that Acorn brought out a
newer fontmanager which fixes this problem without telling anybody.

Simon
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Burrows   smb@cs.nott.ac.uk  psyhsmb@unicorn.nott.ac.uk  +44 533 712030
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In article <1993Jan24.125726.13112@cs.nott.ac.uk> smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows) writes:
>Also, can anyone comment on stories that there are RISC OS 3.10 ROM sets
>in circulation which contain different versions of the FontManager? I
>have had great trouble printing with my LaserDirect using the built-in
>fontmanager (not FastText), and have heard that Acorn brought out a
>newer fontmanager which fixes this problem without telling anybody.

Having been told that at the BETT show on Saturday, and being informed
that most people had 2.98, I look at mine last night and found that it
was 3.xx (02 I think). As I bought my upgrade last October, I can't
believe that many were sent out with 2.98. But then maybe I've got the
wrong end of this altogether.

Tom.

============================================================================
Tom Hughes, CS3

thughes@uk.ac.warwick.dcs            57 Shakleton Road
csugk@uk.ac.warwick.csv              Earlsdon
                                     Coventry
(0203) 673584                        CV5 6HT
============================================================================

thughes@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Tom Hughes) writes:

> Having been told that at the BETT show on Saturday, and being informed
> that most people had 2.98, I look at mine last night and found that it
> was 3.xx (02 I think). As I bought my upgrade last October, I can't
> believe that many were sent out with 2.98. But then maybe I've got the
> wrong end of this altogether.

   Fascinating. The A4 ROM set has v3.07 of the FontManager in it. But then
as the A4 ROMs had to be blown seperately, due to the fact that there appear
to be only two ROMs in the machine rather than the usual four, I am not
surprised that it has slightly newer versions of things.

   However most of the four chip ROMs would have been blown in bulk
manufacture and I would expect the versions number to be constant... Unless
extension ROMs are fitted to load the newer versions...

    Philip

--
Philip R. Banks  Syntax: mail < banks_p@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz >            @@@@@/|
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh, what fun it is to   @@@@/#|
ride In a one-horse open sleigh-or so I am reliably informed; lacking   @@@/##|
an objective referent for the term "fun" I am able only to report the   @@/---|
phenomenon as experienced by others. --- Lt Cmdr Data's Xmas Carols.    @/    |

banksie@khantazi.welly.gen.nz (Philip R. Banks) writes:

> thughes@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Tom Hughes) writes:
> 
> > Having been told that at the BETT show on Saturday, and being informed
> > that most people had 2.98, I look at mine last night and found that it
> > was 3.xx (02 I think).
>
>    Fascinating. The A4 ROM set has v3.07 of the FontManager in it. But then

The 3.10 upgrade roms for my A5000 also have FontManager 3.07, and
SuperSample 0.07 in them... 

--
I'm here to chew gum and kick ass - and I'm all outta gum...

ig06@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Goetz) writes:

> Or does anybody know if such protection circuitry exists for the A310
> and if so who is selling it, how much does it cost and can you install it
> yourself ?

I suggest you screw your monitor cable in tightly. This should be enough
to foil your cable-unplugger :)

--
I'm sig of sicknatures.

In article <1993Jan24.125726.13112@cs.nott.ac.uk>, smb@cs.nott.ac.uk (Simon Burrows) writes:
|> In article <1jph4kINNqur@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> ig06@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Goetz) writes:
|> >Does the FontManager 2.44 rely on some 'hardware configuration' ?
|> 
|> It's interesting that CC does not supply version 2.44 with any of its software.
|> Even Artworks is supplied with version 2.42 - I doubt if this is for technical
|> reasons, more likely that they would have to pay Acorn more to distribute
|> version 2.44.

Don't know about that, but they really wanted to supply Artworks with Ro3's
font manager.  Acorn wouldn't let them, which is why it needs the FontDraw
module loaded.  Incidentally, there's an interresting bug in Artworks printing
to an Ro2 printer driver (e.g. Turbodrivers) under Ro3:  When printing sideways,
it forgets that Ro2 drivers can at least rotate through 90 degrees, and decides
to render all fonts itself using fontdraw.  If there is any reasonable amount
of text on the page this takes forever!  Generally faster to make shapes on
everythin...


|> Also, can anyone comment on stories that there are RISC OS 3.10 ROM sets
|> in circulation which contain different versions of the FontManager? I
|> have had great trouble printing with my LaserDirect using the built-in
|> fontmanager (not FastText), and have heard that Acorn brought out a
|> newer fontmanager which fixes this problem without telling anybody.
|> 
|> Simon

Seems very unlikely, I don't think Ro3.10 has been altered since April.
Possibly if you acquired some of the EPROMed versions from Acorn before the
release date there would be a difference.


Ian Griffiths

I have a rather old A310.  Although it is fitted with most of the essentials
of a fulfilling life (ARM3, 4MB, RISC-OS 3, VIDC Enhancer, IDE) the serial
port has never worked.  I now need to use the serial port for something.

I understand the dud serial port on the early A310 is a "known problem" and
can be fixed - can anybody tell me what this involves?

(The problem is - single characters are handled correctly, but as soon as a
stream is sent, it starts spouting garbage and tends to stay that way
until reset.  The problem occurs at all baud rates, and is worse on
receiving than when sending)