AOH :: CFAQ3-2.TXT
CBM FAQ 3.0 2/4
|
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: COMP.SYS.CBM: General FAQ, v3.0 Part 2/4
Summary: This posting contains answers to questions that commonly surface in
comp.sys.cbm. This posting will tell you enough to get your
computer connected to a network, fixed, and/or enhanced. This file
should be read by new users of comp.sys.cbm before posting to the
group. It should also be proofread by users who are currently
active in comp.sys.cbm.
Keywords: CBM FAQ Help List C64 C128 VIC Modem
Followup-To: comp.sys.cbm
Organization: Brain Innovations, Inc.
Reply-To: brain@mail.msen.com
Message-ID: <cbmmainfaq20895@msen.com>
Supersedes: <cbmmainfaq20795@msen.com>
Expires: 05 Sep 1995
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Archive-name: cbm-main-faq.3.0.p2
Comp-answers-archive-name: commodore/main-faq/part2
News-answers-archive-name: commodore/main-faq/part2
Comp-sys-cbm-archive-name: main-faq/part2
Version: 3.0
Last-modified: 1995/08/04
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Table of Contents (for this file)
---------------------------------
6. The Online Information Reservoir
6.1. How do I download? What is a transfer protocol?
6.2. What is the difference between PETSCII and ASCII?
6.3. Where can I find Commodore programs?
6.4. What is a file extension, and what do they stand for?
6.5. What is electronic mail?
6.5.1. What are mailing lists and how do I join one?
6.5.2. What is a Mail Server? How do I use one?
6.5.3. How do I contact people on Compuserve, Genie, etc.?
6.6. What is USENET or NetNews? What is a USENET newsgroup?
6.6.1. What news groups cater to Commodore 8-bit machines?
6.6.2. What types of discussions belong in comp.sys.cbm?
6.6.3. Which issues does comp.sys.cbm discuss regularly?
6.6.4. How do I post in comp.sys.cbm?
6.6.5. How can I access comp.sys.cbm through email?
6.7. What is a FidoNET echo?
6.7.1. What echoes cater to Commodore 8-bit machines?
6.7.2. How do I post in an echo?
6.8. What is the World Wide Web?
6.8.1. What WWW sites have Commodore information?
6.9. What is File Transfer Protocol (FTP)?
6.9.1. What FTP sites have Commodore Information?
6.9.2. What is an FTP Mail Server? How do I use one?
6.10. What is Internet Relay Chat (IRC)?
6.11. What else is available online?
7. Exchanging Data
7.1. How do I exchange data among Commodore 8-bit machines?
7.2. How do I exchange data between an IBM(tm) and my Commodore?
7.3. How do I exchange data between an Amiga and my Commodore?
7.4. How do I exchange data between a Macintosh(tm) and my Commodore?
7.5. How do I exchange data between an Atari ST(tm) and my Commodore?
7.6. How do I exchange data between a UNIX(tm) machine and my Commodore?
7.7. Are there other ways to exchange data between computers?
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6. The Online Information Reservoir
How true this is. There is information everywhere online, just
waiting to be accessed and used. Hoever, getting at the information
can be a time consuming process.
6.1. How do I download? What is a transfer protocol?
To transfer files for another computer (another 64 or 128, UNIX, OS/2,
DOS, MVS, VMS, Amiga, Atari, or other), you should use a transfer protocol.
Although it is possible to transfer files by turning on the terminal
program's capture buffer and receiving the file, this is not very
reliable and is prone to errors. When transferring any sizable amount of
data, one should use some sort of error-correcting file transfer protocol.
A file transfer protocol splits a file into many pieces, or "packets", and
send a number of them at a time. It then waits for an acknowledgement from
the receiver that the received received the packets correctly. At this
point, the sender send the next batch of packets. This process is
repeated until the entore file is transmitted. Each packet contains
computed checksums and other error detection bytes to ensure the
received data is not corrupt.
Below are descriptions for some of the more popular protocols:
PUNTER
PUNTER is a Commodore specific transfer protocol that used to be the
standard for file transfer. However, with the increase in IBM-based
bulleting board, it has been replaced by other protocols. Most Commodore
BBS systems still offer PUNTER as an option, but almost no other BBS
systems have support for it.
KERMIT
KERMIT is the name of one of the oldest file transfer protocols. KERMIT
is unique in that it can encode the file being transmitted so that
it does not contain any bytes greater than 128 and does not contain any
special control bytes that terminals use to perform special actions. As
such, this protocol is the most robust, but it is also the slowest.
A common statement is, "if you can't KERMIT it, you can't get it"
XMODEM
XMODEM comes in several varieties. Standard XMODEM sends files in 128 byte
packets. There are two standard error-correction methods with XMODEM
checksum and CRC. CRC is the more modern of the two. There is also a
version of XMODEM which supports 1K-byte packets. This version is most
commonly known as XMODEM-1K, but is sometimes erroneously called YMODEM.
YMODEM
YMODEM is a "batch" XMODEM protocol, allowing you to transfer multiple
files in one operation.
ZMODEM
A new file transfer protocol is ZMODEM. ZMODEM is theoretically the
fastest transfer protocol, but only shows a speed gain over the others
on noise-free telephone lines. It achieves this speed increase by only
replying to the sender about the bad packets.
Most terminal programs support PUNTER, XMODEM, XMODEM-1K, YMODEM, and
KERMIT. The Kermit terminal program only supports KERMIT, and Novaterm,
as of version 9.5, supports ZMODEM receives, but not sends.
6.2. What is the difference between PETSCII and ASCII?
When Commodore designed the PET line of computers, they chose for the
character set encoding a special encoding called PETSCII. This set is
similar but not the same as the American Standard Code for Information
Intercahnge (ASCII). Now, this does not cause any
problem when transferring information between or among Commodore
computers (except the Amiga, which I believe uses ASCII), but causes
problems when exchanging information with othe computer types.
The obvious solution is for all Commodore users to translate incoming
information into PETSCII from ASCII when talking to another type of
computer. However, this effectively ruins binary files, which have
no concept of character codes. Therefore, the rules are:
Do not translate when exchanging binary files with any computer
Translate all textual information exchanged with non-Commodore computers.
Translate textual information exchanged with Commodore computers only
if they are translating it as well.
If a text file you retrieve looks like the uppercase letters should
be lowercase and vice versa, then the file is in ASCII and needs to
be converted to PETSCII.
6.3. Where can I find Commodore programs?
Commodore programs are available from a number of sources. For commercial
software, please see Section 15.1 for a list of software dealers. For
shareware and public domain, you can use FTP (Section 6.9), electronic
mail (Section 6.5.2), and bulletin board system in addition to the
software dealers to download or buy programs and other software.
6.4. What is a file extension, and what do they stand for?
A file extension is a 1 or more letter suffix appended to the end of a file
name to indicate the type of file it is. The extension usually indicates
the contents of a file. The list below describes some more common file
extensions, what they are used for, and how to use the file.
Please note that these file extensions are not Commodore-exclusive. Many
computers use file extensions. Also note that some file extensions
are cumulative. IF a file is named "filename.tar.gz", this indicates that
the file is of type "gz", and the file(s) inside the gz file are of type
"tar". To use this file, one would note that both extension are
archival extensions. One would undo the "gz" archival method to restore
the "filename.tar" archive, then undo the "tar" archival method to restore
the original file.
Extension: Meaning: Notes:
-----------------------------------------
.txt Text File This file is not compressed, so it needs
no decompression step. However, the file
may be in either ASCII or PETSCII format,
so a conversion step may be necessary.
Most terminal programs can do this
conversion, and there are stand-alone
programs that do the necessary conversion
also.
.sda Self-Dissolving Just load and run the .sda file to
Archive dissolve the archive. Will dissolve
itself into its constituent files.
C64 and C128 .sda files are not
compatible with each other.
.sfx Self-Extracting Load and run just like a .sda file.
Archive The same archive can be extracted on
either a C64 or a C128, memory permitting.
.arc ARChive Use the program arc250.4 or earlier
for the 64 or arc128 for the 128 to
dissolve the archive. arc128 is available
as part of the CS-DOS package. Other
de-archive programs may exist.
.lzh LHArchive Use the program lhx in CS-DOS on the
128 to dissolve this archive. These
are not very common. This archive
uses the same format as .sfx files,
but is not self-extracting. It is
a standard format also used by
Amiga (and MS-DOS) computers. This
format originated on the PC.
.lnx Lynx Archive The above formats all compress files when
storing them; Lynx just stores them.
There are many different versions of
Lynx out there, so good luck dissolving
these.
.lbr Library Archive A format similar to lynx. Library
dissolving programs exist for both the
64 and 128 to dissolve these.
.uue UUEncoded file UUencoding is a process whereby a binary
file can be converted to an all-text
file, transferable by E-mail. This
encoded file can later be UUDecoded back
to the original binary file. Unix
has uuencoding/decoding utilities.
A program "uuxfer" for the
C64 (by Fuzzy Fox) will both uuencode
and uudecode. Note that the contents of
uue file could be another archived file.
.uua UU archive An extension of uuencoding, a uuarchive
file is a concatenation of one or more
UUEncoded files. So far as I know, this
was introduced by Craig Bruce in his ACE
shell for the C=128, and the utilities
included with that shell create and
dissolve uuarchives.
.kar Kevin's Archive Another text archive format that seems
to have originated with Craig Bruce,
this is a proscription for concatenating
a series of text files (which can include
uuencoded files) into one file. More
information can be found in C. Bruce's
documentation for his ace shell.
x!<file> ZIPCoded file ZIPCode is a program that takes an entire
disk and "compacts" it into 4 files that
have a number followed by a '!' and then
a filename. Also, ZipCode can compress
files, in which case the x is a letter
(a,b,c,d) and there need not be 4 files.
If ZipCode has compressed individual
files, there will be an "i!" or
"x!"-prefixed file on the disk that holds
the directory of the file compressed. To
make things even more confusing, there
are two versions of ZipCode (v1 and v2).
The newer version will accept v1 archives,
but not vice-versa. Use ZipCode v2 to
unpack such archives.
x!!<file> ZIPCode 6-pack This is a ZIPCode archive that takes an
entire disk and puts it into 6 files,
each file containing GCS codes and header
info for the tracks. This is basically
a nybble copier that stores the data it
receives from the disk into files.
.bco BCODEd file BCODing is very similar to UUencoding in
that a binary file is converted into an
all-text format that is 33% larger than
the original. The difference is that the
BCODE format provides additional
information for error detection and
automatic data segmentation and
reordering. C-code versions of "bcode"
and "unbcode" are available via FTP and
Commodore versions are provided with
ACE-128/64.
.zip ZIP archive Zip is a file format used on IBM
platforms and is created by the PKZip
program that is available for some
platforms. There are two forms of zip
files that have the same extension.
Both are created by different versions of
PKZip. The first, version 1.01, can be
dissolved on a 64 by using the program
UNZIP64. The second, newer format is
version 2.04, which cannot be dissolved by
UNZIP64. Your best solution when in doubt
is to dissolve the files on another
platform. For the 128, there is a version
of the UNZIP64 program, called UNZIP128
that has been modified to run in 128 mode.
It is in a file called NZP12813.SFX.
<file>]x Compression Kit x = 4,7,8, cmd, or c(xx) to denote type
Archive of media that was compressed. The files
can be extracted only with The Compression
Kit, from Mad Man Software.
.tar TAR Archive UNIX Tape ARchiver. This program can be
used to archive files as well. The file
must be decoded using tar.
.Z Compress archive Compress is a program on UNIX that will
shrink a single file. It is usually used
on .tar files in UNIX to reduce their
size. The file must be decoded by the
uncompress program, available on UNIX, PC,
Mac and other platforms.
+ Also, a very old version of GNU Zip used
+ this extension, although the file is not
+ fully compatible with the compress format.
.gz GZIP Archive GZIP is a free program developed by the
Free Software Foundation to freely shrink
their software. the resulting file must be
decoded by GUNZIP, available on many
platforms, before using.
.taz Compressed TAR This is a file that should have the
extension "tar.Z", but has been shortened
for MS-DOS. Run uncompress, then tar on
this file.
.tgz Gzipped Tar File This is a file that should have extension
tar.gz, but has been shortened for MS-DOS
Run gzip or similar on the file, then tar.
.gif Graphics This is a compressed graphics format
Interchange created by Compuserve. To view this file,
Format one must find a GIF viewer program.
| .jpeg Joint This graphics format can use one of two
| Photographers compression algorithms. One, called DPCM
| Expert (Differential Pulse COde Modulation)
| Group retains all of the information in the
| original file, which is usually a picture.
| The more common algorithm, called DCT
| (Discrete Cosine Transform), relies on the
| inability of the human eye to distinguish
| among some colors. DCT "throws away" some
| information in the file (picture), while
| still retaining the essence of the picture.
| To view these pictures, one must either
| obtain a JPEG veiwer or convert them to
| GIF format.
.jpg JPEG This is an MS-DOS named .jpeg file.
.tiff Tagged This is a graphics format used on high
Image performance workstations. To view this
File graphics format, you will need to convert
Format something else.
.pcx IBM Picture This is graphics format used in DOS on
IBM machines. Convert this file to a
GIF file to view.
.pict Mac PICTure This is a graphics format used on Apple
Macintosh machines. Convert this file
to a GIF file to view.
| .d64 1541 Disk Image This file stores an image of one entire
+ .x64 disk, for use with Commodore emulator
+ programs. Several programs exist to
+ extract the image onto a disk or place a
+ disk onto an image. The only difference
+ between the .x64 and .d64 file types is an
+ added 64 byte header on a .x64 file.
+ .t65 DataSette Image This file is analogous to the .d64 file
+ type, but for tapes.
| .p00 PC64 (Emulator) This file encapsulates a Commodore program
+ Program File Image or data file. To extract the original
+ file, remove the first 26 characters.
.bmp Windows Bitmap This is a format used for graphics in
Microsoft Windows and OS/2. Convert this
file to a GIF to view.
.pbm Portable Bitmap
.xbm X bitmap This is a format used for graphics on the
X windowsing system. Convert this file
to a GIF to view.
.html HyperText This is a WWW hypertext document. To
Markup view this file, you will need a WWW
| Language browser of some kind. See Section 6.8
+ for more information on WWW.
.doc Document This file could be a word processing file
from a program like Word for Windows,
Wordperfect, or any other word processor.
Also, some text files that contain
documentation use this extension.
.cvt GEOS file GEOS files use a special file format. The
files are called USR files, but they have
special information in the file that
normal files don't, so you cannot just
upload a GEOS file like any SEQ or PRG
file. You can pack all the extra
information and the data into a regular
Commodore SEQ or PRG file with a program
Called Convert. It has a version 2.5 and
a 3.0. The files that result from this
conversion have the extension. The file
must be processed again by Convert before
it can be used with GEOS.
If the file type indicates an archive, there are many programs available
that will handle most archival methods. One of these is called Omega-Q II,
which includes one-stop compression and decompression of many of the above
archival types.
If you use a host system to download the files from, you may want to
decompress the files before downloading. Even though the files will be
larger to download, the time to decompress them offline will not be a
factor. However, those who pay by-the-minute for download time would
probably want the smallest possible file, which implies decompressing on
the local machine, except in the case of a UU encoded file. These files
are actually bigger in the 'UU' format.
6.5. What is electronic mail?
Electronic mail is the online equivalent of post office mail. Although
email is a general term, its use is usually meant to mean "Internet email".
To use email, you must have access to an internet email program. On UNIX,
these programs are called mail, elm, or pine. BBS systems usually have a
special message area for Internet email. You address a message to a user
by using his or her internet email address, which is usually of the form
name@machine_name.doamin_name.type_of_institution_or_country. An example
would be brain@mail.msen.com, which would be user "brain" at machine "mail"
in doamin "msen" and the type "com" which means company or commercial.
After addressing the message and choosing a sutiable subject, the body of
the message is written with information meaningful to the addressee.
Usually this information is textual in nature and reads much like a
personal letter.
It is possible to mail people binary files. To do this, you need access
to a program called uuencode. Most, if not all UNIX machines have this
command available, and there are versions available for IBM, Amiga, and
Macintosh. There is also a version of uuencode available for the
Commodore 64 and 128 as part of the ACE 128/64 OS replacement. (See section
8.3) The uuencode program takes a binary file and expands it so that
it only contains 7-bit ASCII characters. This resulting file can then be
mailed to a recipient, who then uses a similar program called uudecode
that will transform the uuencoded file into the resulting binary file.
This encoding technique is a standard one used across multiple platforms.
If you want to send a file to another Commodore owner, you can use bcode,
which is a Commodore-specific encoding available in ACE 128/64.
6.5.1. What are mailing lists and how do I join one?
A mailing list is similar to a USENET newsgroup like comp.sys.cbm, in that
it provides a place for people to talk among each other and ask questions.
The difference is that the mechanism used is mail. You mail a message off
to the list, the message then gets sent out to all members of that list,
they read and reply to the list, and the process repeats. It is used for
topics that are considered temporary or topics that have a limited scope and
may not sustain an entire newsgroup being devoted to them. It may also
be used when people want to privately discuss some issue.
There are a number of Commodore 8-bit mailing lists for you to join:
cbm-unix - This is a list devoted to the discussion of alternate operating
systems for the Commodore line that have the familiar UNIX
shell look-and-feel. You can join this one by sending mail to
mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message:
subscribe cbm-unix Jim Brain <use your own name>
review cbm-unix <this will show you who is on the list>
help <this will explain how to use the list>
you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to:
cbm-unix@lists.funet.fi.
old-cbm - This is a list devoted to discussions of older Commodore
equipment. Typically, this list discusses issues concerning
PETs, the VIC-20, Plus 4 and C16, and other lesser used
machines. You can join this one by sending mail to
mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message:
subscribe old-cbm Jim Brain <use your own name>
review old-cbm <this will show you who is on the list>
help <this will explain how to use the list>
you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to:
old-cbm-unix@lists.funet.fi.
c64-hackers - I do not know much about this list other than it is used to
discuss issue realting to timing and special opcodes used in
Commodore programs. You can join this list by sending mail to
mailserv@lists.funet.fi with the message:
subscribe c64-hackers Jim Brain <use your own name>
review c64-hackers <this will show you who is on the list>
help <this will explain how to use the list>
you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to:
c64-hackers@lists.funet.fi.
commodor - This is a list that is for all Commodore 8-bit computer
discussion. This list mirrors most of the discussion on
comp.sys.cbm, so I would post to both places. You subscribe
by sending a mail msg to:
listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu with the message:
subscribe commodor Jim Brain <use your own name>
review commodor <this will show you who is on the list>
help <this will explain how to use the list>
you can then send mail to the list by addressing it to:
commodor@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu
c65 - This is a list that discusses the various aspects of the
Commodore C65 Prototype system. There are files and
information available through this list to C65 owners. Note
that this is NOT the list to ask where a C64 can be purchased
from, since the C65 is not a product, per se, as all available
units were in-house prototypes liquidated at a warehouse.
You can subscribe by sending a mail msg to:
c65list-request@dce.vic.gov.au with the subject:
subscribe
You can then send mail to the list by address it to:
c65@dce.vic.gov.au
c=hacking - This list is set up to automatically mail out the latest copy
of Commodore Hacking Online Magazine upon publication. It is run
| through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sending
a mail message to:
| brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of:
MAILSERV with a message of:
| subscribe c=hacking Jim Brain <use your own name>
help <this will explain how to use the list>
+ trivia - This list is set up to automatically mail out the latest copy
+ of the Commodore Trivia as soon as it is published on USENET.
+ through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sending
+ a mail message to:
+ brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of:
+ MAILSERV with a message of:
+ subscribe trivia Jim Brain <use your own name>
+ help <this will explain how to use the list>
+ cbm-main-faq - This list is set up to automatically mail out any major
+ updates to this Frequently ASked Questions List. It is run
+ through Jim Brain's mailserver. You can subscribe by sending
+ a mail message to:
+ brain@mail.msen.com with a subject line of:
+ MAILSERV with a message of:
+ subscribe cbm-main-faq Jim Brain <use your own name>
+ help <this will explain how to use the list>
c64coders - This list is for Commodore 64 coders. Not much is known about
the list, but here is how to join. Send a mail message to:
c64coders-request@uclink2.berkeley.edu with a subject line of:
subscribe.
6.5.2. What is a Mail Server? How do I use one?
A couple of people are running servers that will respond to email requests.
Each have a limited amount of files available. To access them send the
following email:
To: brain@mail.msen.com
Subject: MAILSERV
Message Body:
help
quit
That will return a list of commands. Currently the following commands
are supported:
help retrieves a list of available commands.
catalog retrieves a list of files currently available.
send <filename> retrieves the file <filename>
+ subscribe list_name Firstname Lastname
+ subscribes the user to a mailing list.
6.5.3. How do I contact people on Compuserve, Genie, etc.?
These online services have gateways to the Internet. To send a message to
someone on the following services, make sure they can receive Internet mail
and address the message as follows:
Service Username Internet Address
Compuserve 12345,678 12345.678@compuserve.com
GEnie j.smith2 j.smith2@genie.geis.com
Delphi jsmith jsmith@delphi.com
FidoNet is special, since there are many fidonet nodes, so you need the
specific node information for the system that the recipient is on. Assume
that Jim Brain is on a fido BBS that is node 115 on network 233 in zone
1. (denoted in FIDO as 1:233/115) The address would be:
FidoNet Jim Brain Jim_Brain@f115.n233.z1.fidonet.org
If the fido address is a point on a FIDO network (denoted as 1:233/115.200),
then the address would be:
FidoNet Jim Brain Jim_Brain@p200.f115.n233.z1.fidonet.org
6.6. What is USENET or NetNews? What is a USENET newsgroup?
USENET is a service on the Internet that presents the user with a variety
of forums in which to place messages. It can be viewed as the online
equivalent of a set of bulleting "corkboards", like those in a hallway.
Each corkboard or "newsgroup" caters to a different topic. Users can
place or "post" messages to the newsgroup for others to read, or followup
to posts on the newsgroup.
6.6.1. What news groups cater to Commodore 8-bit machines?
The first thing to discuss here is the dividing line between Commodore
models. All Commodore computers up to, but not including, the Commodore
Amiga or the Commodore line of IBM PC Compatible computers, are
discussed in comp.sys.cbm, which is what this FAQ covers. The Amiga line
of computers is covered in the separate newsgroups comp.sys.amiga.*,
where the '*' indicates that there are a number of groups that match that
name. The IBM PC Compatible computers are discussed in comp.sys.ibm-pc.*.
comp.sys.cbm -
This unmoderated newsgroup discusses all topics concerning Commodore
8-bit machines, including everything from the KIM-1 to the Commodore
65. This is the flagship USENET newsgroup.
comp.binaries.cbm -
This moderated groups permits the distribution of uuencoded binary files
for the Commodore 8-bit computers. The moderator is Mike Miller
(mmmiller3@gac.edu). If you have a favorite program you wish to put up for
distribution, please download and read the comp.binaries.cbm FAQ (posted in
its respective group).
comp.emulators.cbm -
This unmoderated newsgroup was created in 1994 for those who wish to
run one of the many emulation programs available on other machines that
| emulate the C64. This forum seems to be more appropriate for questions
+ concerning operation on "foreign" hardware and file types.
zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.allgemein -
This is a German newsgroup that discusses much of the same topics as
comp.sys.cbm. "allgemein" = general.
zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.binaer -
This German newsgroup parallels the function of comp.binaries.cbm.
"binaer" = "binary".
zer.t-netz.c64 -
This is a general discussion group for the c64 computer. It has the
description 'Der am weitesten verbreitete Rechner', which means "The most
widely used/most popular computer."
zer.z-netz.rechner.c64+c128.hardware
This German newsgroups discusses hardware topics relating to the C64 and
C128.
6.6.2. What types of discussions belong in comp.sys.cbm?
Any discussions about Commodore machines excluding the Commodore Amiga
line, the Commodore IBM PC Clone line are encouraged in comp.sys.cbm
These machines are commonly referred to as the Commodore 8-bit line,
whereas the Amiga and PC line is not 8-bit. Please make sure any question
you intend on posting is not already answered in this FAQ. Also, when
posting a troubleshooting question about inoperative equipment, please give
as much detail as possible. Be considerate of others in the group and keep
questions not pertaining to some aspect of Commodore 8-bit machines and
peripherals out of comp.sys.cbm. The group does realize, however, that a
large percentage of Commodore 8-bit owners also own another computer system
and might have questions about interfacing or emulations. Just use your
own good judgement.
6.6.3. Which issues does comp.sys.cbm discuss regularly?
Although comp.sys.cbm discusses all Commodore 8-bit machines at times,
the C64 and C128 get most of the attention.
6.6.4. How do I post in comp.sys.cbm?
You first need to access the newsgroup comp.sys.cbm through the use of
newsreader. There are many available in UNIX with names like rn, nn, tin,
and trn. I can't begin to tell you what command each uses to construct
a posting, but your machine administrator should be able to tell you.
All posts should contains relevant Summary and Keyword info, as well as
a descriptive title. If you are posting a followup to an existing article,
and are quoting the article, please only quote the relevant portions of the
existing article.
If you find that you cannot post to a newsgroup via your newsreader, but do
have Internet electronic mail capabilities, you can post to the newsgroups
via e-mail. For example, to posts a message to COMP.SYS.CBM, simply mail the
message to either comp.sys.cbm@anon.penet.fi or comp-sys-cbm@cs.utexas.edu.
It is probably best to use the U of Texas address, since the other is an
anonymous posting service, so people won't know who originated the post.
Such disguises are unnecessary in the CBM newsgroups.
6.6.5. How can I access comp.sys.cbm through email?
If you do not have access to the USENET newsgroup comp.sys.cbm and do have
access to Internet email, Allen Smith has graciously set up a list server
that will mail each day's postings to you. To use this service, email
listserv@compsmth.soonet.ca with NO subject and ONLY
SUBSCRIBE comp-sys-cbm
in the body (no leading spaces, no signature) to use this service.
6.7. What is a FidoNET echo?
FidoNET is a "grass roots" network that originated to link bulletin board
systems across the country together. Unlike the Internet, which uses
dedicated phone lines at high speeds to implement its network, FidoNET uses
regular phone lines at normal modem speeds that are not dedicated to
providing networking to link the machine on FidoNET together. FidoNET
allows the exchange of messages in message bases called "echoes" among
various boards. To use the FidoNET echoes, you must connect to a system
that has FidoNET access. It is not possible to describe all the features
of FidoNET in this FAQ, so you should consult your local User Group or BBS
sysop for more info.
The FidoNET echoes are similar to USENET newsgroups, although the echoes
have more strict rules about content and topics.
6.7.1. What echoes cater to Commodore 8-bit machines?
The relevant echoes for Commodore users are:
CBM Commodore 64 and 128 News and Discussions
CBM128 Commodore 128 specific News and Discussions
GEOS GEOS News and Discussions
PCWRITE Cross Platform Computing, including C64 emulators
CBM.GER German Fido area for CBM discussion.
6.7.2. How do I post in an echo?
Echoes are usually posted in the same way that you would mail a BBS
message in any other area, although the BBS may operate differently.
It is best to follow any online directions or consult the local BBS sysop
for more details.
6.8. What is the World Wide Web?
The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) is a Internet-wide Hypertext document
retrieval and display system. To use WWW, you must have access to a
WWW HyperText Markup Language (HTML) browser. Typical examples include
lynx, which is a ASCII browser available on UNIX, and Mosaic, a GUI
browser available for UNIX, Windows, Mac, and other platforms. There
are others, but these are a few. Once in a browser program, point it at
some of these WWW "pages".
If you do not have WWW access to the Web, you can request pages be mailed
to by sending mail to listproc@www0.cern.ch with the subject help. The
return mail should tell you how to request a WWW page.
However, if you do have access to telnet on the Internet, you can access
the Web. Instructions on how to do this, in a file called wwwtelnet.txt,
can be retrieved from Jim Brain's MAILSERV server. See Section 5.X for
information on how to access the server.
6.8.1. What WWW sites have Commodore information?
A number of them! Below is a partial list of WWW sites that contain
Commodore information. This list is not exhastive, but will provide
many hours of Commodore information.
http://www.hut.fi/~msmakela/cbm/
The main European Commodore site maintained by Marko Makela
http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~csbruce/index.html
Craig Bruce's site.
http://www.msen.com/~brain
Main US Commodore site maintained by Jim Brain
http://www.prairienet.org/community/clubs/cucug/main.html
The Champaign-Urbana Commodore User Group Site.
http://monami.psc.edu/
The Pittsburgh Commodore Group site.
http://www.nada.kth.se/~d93-alo/c64/
Commodore 64 Games Home Page.
http://basil.cs.flinders.edu.au:2374/~gardners
Paul Gardner-Stephen's home page, C65 information.
http://www.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/~supermjk
Marc-Jano Knopp's home page.
http://www.infinet.com/~rbatina
Robert Batina's home page.
http://www.csd.uu.se/~d94aca/vic20.html
Anders Carlsson's home page
http://ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de/~fs1/c64/
Andre Fachat's home page
http://131.188.190.131/~poldi/c64.html
Daniel Dallmann's home page
http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~poing/
Demo scene info.
http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~poing/english/padua.html
Frank Michlick's home page
http://130.239.24.82/asv/phred/index.html
Fredrick Backman's home page
http://stekt.oulu.fi/~jopi/
Jouko Valta's (Jopi's) home page. X64/128 emulator project home page
http://www.industry.net:80/users/speck/
Sean Peck's home page.
http://www.alkymi.unit.no/~sveinw/
Svein Yngvar Willassen's home page.
http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ipoorten/8bit.html
Atari 8-bit Home page
| http://www.accessone.com/slab/prodc64s.html
Seattle Labs (C64S Emulator) WWW home page.
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/~conover/c64.html
Commodore 64 (*.d64 and *.t64 Archive) home page.
http://www.funet.fi/pub/cbm/
Ftp.funet.fi (via WWW)
http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/fms/comp/
Personal Computing and Emulation Homepage
| http://www.yaho.com/Computers/PCs/Commodore/
Yahoo Commodore Index
http://www.armory.com/~spectre/cwi.html
The Computer Workshops WWW site.
http://www.futurenet.co.uk/computing/commodoreformat.html
Commodore Format magazine home page.
http://www.futurenet.co.uk/computing/amigaformat/commodore.html
Info on status of CBM and Amiga Format mag info.
| http://hangar18.acns.nwu.edu/users/aforte/cbm/cbm.emu.faq.toc.html
Commodore Emulation FAQ.
http://chrom.imbg.ku.dk/bonzai.html
Bonzai home page.
http://www.ling.umu.se/asv/phred/cbm64/cbm64.html
Phred's home page.
| http://www.ccn.cs.dal.ca/Services/PDA/commodore.html
| Chebucto Community Net Commodore Public Download Area
http://www.jyu.fi/~np/c64cheats.html
The Great C64 Cheats Compendium
| http://www.netaxs.com/~rmk/com.html
Rick Kephart's home page.
http://www.kaiwan.com/~sirfitz/qlink.html
Charles Fitzhugh's Qlink home page.
http://www.portal.com/~steward/qlink.html
Another Qlink home page.
http://www.warwick.ac.uk/~stuce/default.html
Peter Weighill's Original CBM WWW site (soon to go away)
http://www.giga.or.at/pub
WWW mirror of Guenther Bauer's ftp site.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/mjw/Computer/Amiga/News/AR/index.html
| Amiga Report Home page
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~pfkurek
Peter Kurek's Interactive site for the C128/64.
http://sdsdabmc.nesdis.noaa.gov/GEOF/wac.html
Washington Area Computer User Group home page.
| http://www.webcom.com/~softdisk/c64.html
| LOADSTAR and LOADSTAR 128 Home Page (Softdisk Publishing).
http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/index.html
Commodore SID Music home page.
| http://www.ccn.cs.dal.ca/Technology/CUGNS/CBM.html
The Commodore User's Group of Nova Scotia WWW Site.
http://www.lut.fi/~veijalai/
Kimmo Veijalainen's home page.
http://www.jyu.fi/~np/
Niilo Paasivirta's home page.
http://www.rhi.hi.is/~aaj/
Agust Arni Jonsson's home page. NemeSID collection.
http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mrc/
Peter Suba's home page (Delta System home page).
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/cross/
Douglas W. Jones', author of the SMAL cross assembler, home page.
http://www.earthlink.net/users/engcon/webdocs/
Engineering Consulting WWW home page.
+ http://www.msen.com/~brain/guest/Gaelyne_Moranec/
+ Gaelyne Moranec's WWW home page and QWKRR128 information.
+ http://www.fastlane.net/homepages/msessums/
+ Metroplex Commodore Computer Club (MCCC) home page.
+ http://www.fastlane.net/homepages/msessums/msessums.html#METRO
+ Metro C-64/128 Users WWW home page.
+ http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/~grfrog/
+ Greenfrog's WWW home page
+ http://www.infinet.com/~mbendure/cnet/
+ C-Net 64 BBS home page.
6.9. What is File Transfer Protocol (FTP)?
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a service available on the Internet to
allow users to send and retrieve files on the Internet. To allow anyone
to access some machines, the special user "anonymous" or "ftp" is used
to log into another machine for ftp. These machine, which hold public
domain (PD), shareware, and freeware files, are called "anonymous ftp"
sites. To get files from these sites, you use (on most systems) a program
called ftp. A typical ftp session (assuming you are running from a Unix
system) would be as follows:
SAMPLE SESSION:
%ftp ccnga.uwaterloo.ca <ccnga.uwaterloo.ca is site name>
Connected to ccnga.uwaterloo.ca.
220 punisher FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready.
Name (cco.caltech.edu:rknop): anonymous <Use "anonymous" for user name>
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password: <Type your E-mail address here>
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> cd /pub/cbm/utilities <"cd" changes directory>
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> dir z* <"dir" alone lists whole directory>
200 PORT command successful.
150 ASCII data connection for /bin/ls (131.215.48.57,2084) (0 bytes).
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15427 Apr 13 15:42 zed-128.070
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14107 Apr 13 15:42 zed-128.doc
226 ASCII Transfer complete.
remote: z*
134 bytes received in 0.44 seconds (0.3 Kbytes/s)
ftp> binary <specifies binary files. IMPORTANT!!>
200 Type set to I.
ftp> get zed-128.070 <requests file zed-128.070>
200 PORT command successful.
150 Binary data connection for zed-128.070 (131.215.48.57,20) (15427 bytes)
226 Binary Transfer complete.
local: zed-128.070 remote: zed-128.070
15427 bytes received in 0.1 seconds (1.5e+02 Kbytes/s)
ftp> quit <quit when you are finished>
221 Goodbye.
%
To submit files to an ftp site, you use the command "put". Again, make sure
to first specify "binary" for programs and other binary files. Typically,
ftp sites will only accept submissions in an "INCOMING" directory.
To download software (files) from an anonymous ftp sites, one has to
be aware that there are two connections to be concerned about. The
first connection is from your Commodore to you host computer and then
the connection from your host to the ftp site. In addition you need to be
be aware of the nature of the information in the desired file, particularly
if you are downloading programs. If the file is not known to be in
printable ASCII form, consider it a binary file. It may also be be in an
archived form, i.e. a form where it is packed with many files or in a
shortened format. Consider these to be binary unless it is of the "uu"
type which is an ASCII format.
6.9.1. What FTP sites have Commodore Information?
A number of sites on Internet have areas for Commodore files. The list
of current Internet FTP sites can be retrieved from the Jim Brain's
mail server as file cbm-ftp-sites.MM.YY where MM is the Month and YY is the
year that the list is for. (See Section 6.5.2 for directions on how to
use the mail server). The FTP List is maintained by Howard Herman and a
copy of the latest file can be obtained from him at
72560.3467@compuserve.com.
6.9.2. What is an FTP Mail Server? How do I use one?
If your service provider does not allow access to FTP directly, there
are some systems that will perform the FTP session on your behalf. These
systems are called "ftp mail servers". These allow the user to request
files to be retrieved by electronically mailing a message to the server.
To use the service, you must first learn how the service works. This is
done by mailing the server address with the word "help" in the body of
the message This will result in the directions being sent in a message to
you. Then, following the directions, you can request files from any
FTP sites through the server. The server will send both the retrieved
files and a message detailing the execution of your request.
Here is a sample request message:
To: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
Subject:
Body:
connect ccnga.uwaterloo.ca anonymous brain@msen.com
chdir /pub/cbm/comp.sys.cbm
ls -l
quit
Please note the following:
This service is only for retrieving files.
Binary files will usually be uuencoded. They must be decoded before use.
Large files may be split into smaller pieces. The resulting pieces must
be editted back into one piece, and decoded if necessary.
Potential ftpmail servers include:
ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu
Craig Bruce has set up a ftp mail server off his regular email address.
Here is how you would utilize it:
To: csbruce@little.uwaterloo.ca
Subject: ftpmail
Body:
help
bcode
ftp ccnga.uwaterloo.ca
cd /pub/cbm/os/ace
dir
get ace12.doc
quit
All of the regular FTP commands are supported, with the addition of
the following commands:
help - gives help information.
bcode - requests the data be sent as bcoded files.
hexcode- requests the data be sent as hexcoded files.
6.10. What is Internet Relay Chat (IRC)?
Internet Raley Chat (IRC) is an online version of citizen's band radio or
BBS chat rooms. The service is worldwide and is available on the Internet.
To use IRC, one would normally use a client program (typically called irc on
UNIX machines) to access the service.
Although the program used to access IRC varies, the commands are pretty
much standard. All commands are entered on the text line and begin
with a "/" character. Here are a few important ones:
/join #c-64 Join the #c-64 channel, which discusses topics
concerning Commodore hardware and software.
/msg Commbot help will get you info on Commbot which carries C64/128
software to download.
/msg Filebot help another C64 bot with software to download from.
/msg coolhand xdcc list if he is online, this user has many c64 files
which can be downloaded via this command.
/quit leave.
/names * List names of all people in current channel.
/dcc send (nickname) (filename)
Send a file to person (nickname).
/dcc receive (nickname) or
/dcc get (filename) REceive a file from someone.
If you need more info on how IRC works, there is a file available on
Jim Brain's email file server called irc-info.txt that explains IRC in
| more depth. (See Section 6.5.2 for directions on how to use the mail server)
6.11. What else is available online?
If you are looking for other places on the Internet to talk Commodore,
there is the Commodore forum on CoSy, a system accessible from the
Internet. To access this service, you must have access to a telnet
program. Here is the relevant information:
telnet cosy.softwaords.bc.ca
login: cosy
CoSy: j commodore
This will bring up a list of topics pertaining to Commodore. The forum
moderator is Robert Todd and his email address is robert.todd@bbs.serve.org.
This forum is ideally suited to discussions about the Color64 BBS
system and other Commodore BBS systems. If you wish to post in the
forum, please send email to that effect to Robert Todd.
7. Exchanging Data
At some point in time it becomes necessary to move data from one machine to
another. Sometimes this is easy, sometimes it is not. This section will
help you decide which way of transferring files is best.
7.1. How do I exchange data among Commodore 8-bit machines?
+ You can exchange data between Commodore machines in a number of ways, but
+ each way requires an exchange medium, whether it be tape, disk, modem, or
+ null modem.
+ To transfer files between any Commodore machines besides the Plus/4
+ series that have datasette ports, the file can be save to tape and
+ exchanged. The Plus/4 series tape drives read and write data in a format
+ not compantible with any other CBM system.
+ To transfer files between any Commodore computers with disk drives, you
+ need to find a drive that can be connected to either computer, or two
+ drives with compatible disk formats. Some examples of two drive setups:
+ 2031 1541
+ 4040 1541 (Read but not write compatible_
+ 8050 8250 (can't use back side of 8250 disk)
+ 8050 SFD1001 (can't use back side of SFD1001 disk)
+ 1551 1541
+ 1571 1541 (can't use back of 1571 disk)
+ Modems can be used to exchange the information, if both computers can
+ use modems. Just perform a dowload on one end, and an upload on the
+ other. Null modems can make this job simpler, by removing the data->
+ telephone line step performed in a modem.
+ With all of these methods, data files should transmit fine, but program
+ file written in ML will most likely not work, and BASIC programs will
+ usually fail is loaded on a machine with a differing version of BASIC.
7.2. How do I exchange data between an IBM(tm) and my Commodore?
Commodore computers use a disk format which is not compatible with the
disk formats of other computers. However, some programs exist which allow
you to read foreign, specifically MS-DOS, disks. Note that in general to
do this, you must have either a 1571 or 1581 disk drive. The 1541 cannot
read MS-DOS disks without some hardware modifications.
A commercial package, The Big Blue Reader, from SOGWAP software, runs on
either a 64 or a 128, will read and write MS-DOS format 3.5" (with a 1581)
and 5.25" (with a 1571) disks.
Other freely distributable programs exist to read and write 5.25" MS-DOS
disks. One such program is Crosslink, (available on ccnga.uwaterloo.ca
although it is limited to reading files 43K in size or smaller. Finally,
there are a few CP/M MS-DOS reading utilities that work in the C128's CP/M
mode.
RUN magazine (4/89 to 6/89) published a series of programs that would use
1571/1581 drives to transfer MS-DOS files to and from a C= drive. It is
also limited in file size handling ~43-44K.
Issues 4 and 5 of C= Hacking magazine presented a program called Little
Red Reader for the 128 that will copy files to and from MS-DOS floppy
disks. The menu-driven program requires two disk drives to work, where the
one containing the MS-DOS disk must be a 1571 or 1581 (or compatible). The
program does not buffer data internally, so the only size restriction on
copying is the capacity of the target disk. The program provides PETSCII/
ASCII conversion but will work only with the root directories of MS-DOS
disks. The program is also available via FTP and is FREE.
To read and write to MS-DOS disks with 1541 disk drives you have to make a
small hardware modification. The 1541-dos package contains instructions on
how to modify Commodore 1541 and Oceanic OC-118/OC-118N disk drives, and
programs to read disks in MS-DOS format and to write to disks in a format
that can be read by MS-DOS computers. The newest version of the package is
available via anonymous ftp on ftp.funet.fi in /pub/cbm/documents/1541-dos.
To read CBM disks on an IBM, you can use the program x1541 available on
ccnga.uwaterloo.ca in /pub/cbm/emulation. This program uses the PC parallel
port to emulate a C= serial port. You need to have a unique cable built to
make the connection. The cable is connected to a 1541 drive.
The documentation has a schematic for the cable.
Also, if you own a Commodore 1581, there is a PC program which can read
1581 formatted disks. It is called 22DSK13.
There are no programs that will read a 5.25" Commodore disk in a 5.25" PC
drive.
7.3. How do I exchange data between an Amiga and my Commodore?
TransNib
The TransNib 1.00 package for Amiga allows transferring files
C64<->Amiga at up to 60000 bps. It uses a parallel<->user port cable that
currently transfers 4bits at a time. Uses 2-way handshaking. 2 versions
of the 64software are in the archive. Requires a disk drive. 1541
fastloader compatible. The Amiga side software can be run from shell of
WB, multitasks fine and has nice simple GUI.
For more information, get the archive from ftp.wustl.edu,
/systems/amiga/aminet/misc/emu/TransNib100.lha
+ PData
+ The PData 3.51 package for the Amiga allows transfer of both binary and
+ text files between the C64/C128 and the Amiga. It's about 25 times faster
+ than a null modem cable, and it even leaves your Amiga serial port free for
+ other applications.
+ You can transfer up to 255 files in both directions in multitransfer mode.
+ The program works with an cable attached between the 64 user port and the
+ Amiga parallel port. The Amiga software can be run from any Amiga,
+ although Kickstart v37.175 (v2.04) is required to utilize all functions.
+ for more information, get the archive at:
+ ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/computing/systems/amiga/mods/chip/NemeSIDs-Extra.lzh
7.4. How do I exchange data between a Macintosh(tm) and my Commodore?
7.5. How do I exchange data between an Atari ST(tm) and my Commodore?
+ Atari ST can read and write 3.5" DD disks formatted for PC. You need to use
+ TOS 1.4 or higher to format. Using Big Blue Reader to write 3.5" PC
+ format on CBM will permit transfer.
+ ST also has RS-232 port, so one can transfer data by using RS-232 adaptor
+ on the C64 and some terminal/handshaking programs to control the transfer.
7.6. How do I exchange data between a UNIX(tm) machine and my Commodore?
+ One way is to use PC and then ftp to UNIX, unless the UNIX runs on a PC.
+ Some Sparctations have drives with MSDOS filesystem emulation, but it has
+ problems even with Atari/DOS disks.
7.7. Are there other ways to exchange data between computers?
If you are transferring data to another computer (e.g. a PC) in the same
room, or if you are lucky enough to have a terminal server line near your
64/128(more and more colleges are putting such beasts in dorm rooms), you
be able to connect your serial port directly to another computer. If you
have a terminal server port, all you need is a C= RS232 to standard RS232
adapter (see 9.8). If you are connecting to another, PC, you will also
need a null modem. A null modem is a simple device that you can buy for
less than $10. It typically is a small box with a 25-pin (or 9-pin) RS232
connector on either side. Put it somewhere in the line between your C= and
the other PC.
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