***************************************

*                                     *

*     P O R T F O L I O   N E W S     *

*                                     *

*        Internet newsletter for      *

*     Atari Portfolio users and fans  *

*                                     * 

***************************************

    No 5     September 4, 1995

    

In this issue:



*** NEW EDITOR of BULLETIN PORTFOLIO NEWS

*** HOT: 1 MB and 4 MB FLASH CARDS IN EUROPE

*** Portfolio News International - the only English paper

*** The Portfolio Inside

*** File Manager 2

*** Atari Dealer in Holland

*** Decoding the files from E-MAIL

*** Question from Hong Kong: parallel file transfer

*** Membership in CZ Portfolio Club

*** Sending money for the products

*** The FNT standard

*** ATARI dealers in Italy

*** BUG in MAZE.COM from soft-package no.3

*** A Superb Portfolio WWW Page

*** PORTFOLIO MODEM

*** ZMODEM ON PORTFOLIO

*** Folio Drive and Portfolio Capacity

*** Portfolio Club & Bank Connection

*** Portfolio Hardware addon Idea

*** HARDWARE IDEAS AND SOLUITIONS

*** New Hardware under development

*** Atari Show - will PF corner be there?

*** Current Price-List of PF products by Portfolio Club CZ

*** Portfolio Archive 

*** Opening the LCD display on PF

*** Another FTP place for Portfolio

*** Programming:  LOAD.COM or LOAD.EXE

===========================================================

The articles:



-----------------------------------------

*** NEW EDITOR of BULLETIN PORTFOLIO NEWS



From: Jan Sedlak, the (old) editor



Paul Jolliffe offered his helping hand and will prepare the 

Portfolio News Bulletin and e-mail it instead on me. This does 

not mean that I am leaving the Portfolio scene. Not at all. I 

hope that this change will help me to get a bit more time for 

software and hardware development.



I will be writing several articles for each issue, I will 

respond to hardware and software questions and I will forward 

attractive materials to Paul.



I believe that every reader of this bulletin can supPort PF a 

bit. Just send to Paul or to me your ideas, experiences, short 

and long reviews of the software you use and ideas of  what soft 

you would like to be published.



From now on Portfolio News has a new home at 



paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk    



but still you can use the old address



sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz



to get in touch with living Portfolio world.



Here is what Paul thinks:



From: paulj@trideuk.demon.co.uk (Paul Jolliffe)



I  have done some thinking over the weekend and I will 

takeover  the Portfolio News from issue 6 onwards (End Of 

September).  I hope that this is  o.k  with  you and your 

help and guidance will be very much apprechiated.   If  you  

would  like to  notify  the PF users of the  change in e-mail 

address etc, in the next  issue.   Could  you  also  change 

my e-mail address to: 



   paulj@jollyp.demon.co.uk    <--- Home



instead of 



   paulj@trideuk.demon.co.uk   <--- Work



That  way  there shouldn't be any problems  with  replies 

etc. 



--------------------------------------------

*** HOT: 1 MB and 4 MB FLASH CARDS IN EUROPE



The high capacity RAM Cards for Portfolio made by Optrol 

company USA are now available in Europe.



We believe that there will be much interest in the cards by 

PF users, as the FLASH cards seem to be the ultimate solution 

for the disk space on Portfolio. 4MB in a size of a RAM card 

make a Portfolio (especially with 512 KB RAM) a powerful 

machine with top market value.



We have received a pricelist from the manufacturer which 

enables us to reduce the price if we order higher qualities. 

That is why our Portfolio Club (Czech Rep.) will be selling 

the RAM cards in Europe for the same price as in the USA !!! 

(provided the minimal order of 10 pieces from Optrol is 

achieved)



The pricing



1 MB FLASH CARD         180 USD

4 MB FLASH CARD         400 USD





postage                 15 USD for Europe

			25 USD for the rest of the world



If you decide to order the cards, you can include other items 

from the pricelist of the products mentioned later in this 

issue of Portfolio News.

 

As the international (non-business) banking is still very 

slow, please, consider that it usually takes about one month 

to deliver the products. To speed up the procedure of  

ordering the FLASH cards from USA, send your orders by 

September 15th.



If you want to order a FLASH card, send us e-mail with your 

order and send the appropriate sum to our bank account.



BANK:  Ceska sporitelna

       Jugoslavska 19

       120 00 Praha 2

       the Czech Republic



BANK CODE:  0800



OWNER OF ACCOUNT: Jan SEDLAK - Portfolio

		  Sarajevska 29

		  120 00 Praha 2

		  the Czech Republic



NUMBER OF ACCOUNT: 720252-028/0800



---------------------------------

***  Portfolio News International

- the only English paper bulletin about PF



From: Jan Sedlak (the editor)



As I mentioned in previous issue of PNews a new bulletin in 

English will be published and printed. This bulletin is aimed 

to support English speaking Portfolio fans both with Internet 

access and without. The first issue is planned to be 

published by September 20th.



I will send a separate mail on the Portfolio News 

International. Please, let me know your opinion about such a 

kind of bulletin.



-----------------------------

*** Portfolio Club in Germany



From: Wolf-Theo Holl <100113.2626@compuserve.com>



(Please, contact Mr. Holl if you want to learn more about the 

Portfolio activities in Germany)



The 'foundation meeting' of the German Portfolio Club has 

been very  successful ! There have been 9 men and 2 women(!) 

who discussed the general concept of the club and the 

services we are going to offer. 



They've told me to send you our greetings. We're very 

confident that our relationship will be successful and an 

advantage for all of us ! 



Here's what we are planning:



> Mailbox with everything a Portfolio user will need.   

(Messages, News, Files,etc.) For the future we want to   

install a Portfolio board on several BBS's to build up

a kind of web structure.  



> Software service (on disk and RAM card) for people who   

haven't got a modem or who do not want to make long distance   

calls.  



> Printed newsletter. The quantity of pages of the newsletter   

is calculated depending on the amount of membership dues we   

are going to charge. It's been suggested that about 60,- DM   

per year would be acceptable.   The newsletter will contain 

reports about hard/software, general   news and a classifieds 

section.  



> Hardware is sold by Stefan and me. While Stefan is going to   

offer various combinations of his RAM card, upgrade manuals,   

some genuine parts, combinations of often needed 

cable/software   packages and of course your leather case, 

I'd like to offer ALL   of your products and the Optrol 

cards.  



> Hard/Software developers support. Depending on the know-how 

and   equipment of our 'PF-freaks' the club will also support 

every   serious effort in the field of new products.  



> Hotline. I'll try to run a regular telephone hotline. We'll   

make an announcement in the first volume of the newsletter.   



> Entering computer shows. As soon as the legal status of the   

club is figured out we'll start to attend the various shows   

that are still taking place here (e.g. HobbyTronik, PRO-Tos) 



All the activities mentioned above will be introduced in an 

info letter we'll send to all possible members (e.g. 

everybody in our database). This letter will also contain a 

complete list of all available products, so that we'll send 

it to several Atari dealers and the magazines too. 



That's about everything we've discussed last saturday August 

26th. 



------------------------

*** The Portfolio Inside



I finally have translated a part of the research work on 

Portfolio BIOS carried out by Martin and Milan Hrdlicka. All 

the conclusions further presented were discovered by 

experimenting and  tracing the Portfolio BIOS. That is why 

some conclusions may be mistaken.



--- LCD DRIVER



I/O address to control the LCD



8060h   - contrast of the LCD

8011h   - control byte

8010h   - data byte



The 8060h address is a byte the value of which defines the 

contrast of the LCD. 0=min 255=max



The 8011 and 8010 addresses may be driven in the following 

way:



dodisp:                 ;input: ah- control byte

 push dx                ;       al- data byte

 xchg al,ah

 mov  dx,8011h

 cli

 out  dx,al             ;out: control byte 

 xchg al,ah

 mov  dx,8010h

 out  dx,al             ;out: data byte

 sti

 pop  dx

 ret



The code above is just a possible solution, but it is 

important to observe the consequence: control byte always 

before the data byte. The interrupt must be disabled during 

the OUT instructions on LCD and there must be a certain 

minimal time between the control and data byte so that the 

LCD may process the data correctly.



Control byte:  00h

Data byte: as follows (in bits)



  xxx  xxx x x

  |||  ||| | |

  |||  ||| | --------   0       Japanese char. set

  |||  ||| |            1       European char. set

  |||  ||| ----------   0       text mode

  |||  |||              1       graphic mode

  |||  |||

  |||  -----------    000       full cursor blinking

  |||                 001       '_' cursor

  |||                 010       '_' cursor blinking

  |||                 011       full cursor blinking

  |||                 100       no cursor

  |||                 101       '_' cursor

  |||                 110       full cursor blinking

  |||                 111       '_' cursor blinking

  |||

  -----------------   001       ??? unknown meaning



  The meaning of the top 3 bits is unknown and they

  have the value 001.



Control byte: 01h

Data byte:      the size of the character

		in graphics     =77h (8x8)

		in text         =75h (8x6)



Control byte: 02h

Data byte: the speed of LCD refreshment

		in graphics     =1Dh

		in text         =27h



Control byte: 03h

Data byte: the total of lines in graphics = 3F h (0...63 decimal)



Control byte: 04h

Data byte: the total of lines in text mode = 7 (0...7)



Control byte: 05h

Data byte: ??? unknown



Control byte: 06h

Data byte: ??? unknown



Control byte: 07h

Data byte: ??? unknown



Control byte: 08, 09h

Data byte: ??? - something like a internal position of a 

displayed window, BIOS sets to 0



Control byte: 0ah

Data byte: setting of the low byte address of the display 

position and cursor



The address is the position of the byte as if all the bytes 

were consecutive. In text mode the address is within 0..319 

(40*8), in graphics within 0..1919 ( 240/8 * 64).



Control byte: 0bh

Data byte: setting of the top byte of the address - see above



Control byte: 0ch

Data byte:



In text         the ASCII code of the character

In graphics     the mirror image of the byte from the Video RAM 

in segment B000 or B800. The mirror image means that the bit 

7 in video RAM is the bit 0 of the Data byte, bit 6 is the 

bit 1, .... etc.



Control byte: 0dh

Data byte: ??? increases the address of the display position 

(see function 0ah), as if a space was displayed



Control byte: 0eh

Data byte: the index of a single bit 0...7 of actual display 

position which will be cleared. We set the position using the 

functions 0a and 0b, then we can clear individual bits of the 

byte.



The actual display position increases automatically after 8 

functions 0eh and 0fh



Note: The change of the bit is carried out just inside the 

LCD and is visible on the screen directly. In Video RAM this 

procedure must be carried out separately. This also explains 

why the standard BIOS screen refresh is so slow in graphics. 

It is necessary to carry out 30 722 I/O operations to refresh 

the LCD this way.



Control byte: 0fh

Data byte: the index of a single bit 0...7 of actual display 

position which will be set. See the function 0eh on setting 

the position and see the note too.



The fast refresh by Martin and Milan Hrdlicka is based on 

using the function 0ch instead of 0e and  0f as used 

originally in BIOS. This fast refresh routine was published 

in last issue (No 4) of the Portfolio News bulletin.



--- PORTFOLIO SPEAKER



The speaker is at I/O location  8020 h.

Values: 80h     - non-active

	00h     - active

Other values make either pre-designed (see the Tech. Guide) 

tones or the dialing signals.





-------------------

***  File Manager 2



This is an idea for making a new version of File Manager.



FM2 will have two windows, like Norton Commander. The windows 

will be able to display following:

-available drives

-current directory

-drives and directories of remote computer

-built-in applications

-disk & memory information

-tree

-deleted files that can be recovered



The directory listing will be able to display:

-hidden, system, read-only attributes

-file length

-date/time



The directory listing can be sorted:

-no sort

-name

-extension

-length

-date/time



It will be possible to copy and move files from one window to 

another. This also means copying and moving from different 

directories and drives.

It will be possible to change file attributes.

It will be possible to undelete files.

The file handling in new FM2 will be the same as on old 

FM.COM. Pressing ENTER on ADR,DRY,TXT,WKS files will open the 

application with that file.



It will be possible to define other executable extensions. 

E.g. pressing ENTER on BAS file will start a PBASIC with the 

BAS file. Pressing ENTER on PGC file will start PGSHOW.EXE 

viewer, etc.



Pressing ENTER on file with undefined extension will cause 

typing on the screen.



Pressing F1 or ATARI will open function menu.

Pressing F2 will open user defined short cuts. (Similar to F2 

in Norton Commander.)

Pressing F3 will open a file viewer with the actual file.

Pressing F4 will open the built-in editor with the actual 

file.



I think that the ALT functions of the old FM.COM can be 

preserved.

Other Norton Commander functions may be added. E.g. Find 

File, File filter, etc.



New FM2 may contain hexadecimal editor for editing binary 

files (like pressing F4 in text view (F3) in Norton, but 

editable).



The new FM2 will contain file transfer utility that will 

allow to connect PF to a remote computer for file exchange. 

This file utility will recognize if parallel or serial port 

is connected and will use the proper file transfer protocol.



The file transfer utility will work with standard PF file 

transfer protocol (built-in and used in FT.COM), with 8 bit 

parallel transfer and with serial transfer of a standard type 

(e.g. XMODEM).



It will be possible to send and receive marked files to and 

from remote computer. It will be possible to move files from 

PF (sending plus deleting).



It will also be possible to execute files stored on remote 

computer. Pressing ENTER on COM, BAT, EXE files will load the 

file from remote computer into current PF directory and will 

execute the file. After returning back to FM2 program, the 

file will be removed from the directory. So it will appear to 

the user that the file was really executed from the remote 

directory.



The FM2 may work in TEXT MODE but I think that using GRAPHIC 

MODE and 8x4 fonts or 8x5 fonts will help in displaying more 

info on the PF screen.



---------------------------

*** Atari Dealer in Holland



I found this address somewhere on NET. Maybe the company 

still have some Portfolio stuff on stock. I tried to fax 

there, but no response back came.



I hope some PF fan from Holland will call there and will 

report back to us, if they have PF stuff. Maybe the company 

will order new PF products we make for Portfolio



		     DATA-SKIP

		     Oosthaven 58

		     2801 PE    Gouda

		     The Netherlands  (Holland)

		     Attention : Ton Versluis

		     Phone :  31-(0)-1820-20581

		     Fax   :  31-(0)-1820-22724



---------------------------------

*** Decoding the files from E-MAIL

 

> Dear Mr Sedlak

> Thanks for the soft.  Unfortunately I have no idea how to use 

> the file port.arj and what it is supposed to do. 



Four steps to do to get the files from the mail:



1. Save the mail into a file. Using option s) in ELM mailer.

2. Then use UUDECODE command to convert the file into

   a binary file port.arj

3. Tranfer the port.arj to your harddisk, e.g. using ftp

4. Use arj.exe to extract the files from the port.arj

   If you use the Norton Commander, you can view and

   extract the files as if it was a directory.

   If you do not have arj.exe or NC, try to ask some

   friend of yours who has a PC.



---------------------------------------------------

*** Question from Hong Kong: parallel file transfer

 

> Hello:

> 

>   I am from Hong Kong.  Recently, I get a second hand 

> Portfolio (HPC-004) with a Parallel interface (HPC-101) but haven't any

> software included, those are made in Japan.  But I can't use them because

> it has a basic problem, that is I don't know how to send a File to the

> Portfolio from my PC.

> 

>   Luckily, I find your web site from Internet, I think you can help me:

>    1. How can I sent a file to the Portfolio?

>    2. Is that need a communication program running in PC, how can I get it?

>    3. Is PBASIC a BASIC language for PF, how can I get it?





1. You need to connect the Parallel interface to PF and 

connect it    with a straight cable with 25 male connector. 

It is a direct cable    usualy with 18 lines, NOT a lap-link 

(crossed) cabel. 



	Press ATARI-S to enter SETUP.

	Then choose F for File Transfer.

	And then S for Server

	Start the communication software on PC, the Portfolio will

	respond automatically.



2. Try anonymous FTP to the scr.doc.ic.ac.uk archive

   Portfolio is in the following directory:



   computing/systems/atari/umich/Portfolio



   I think the FT.COM is in the Communications subdirectory.

   FT.COM is the program to run on PC to exchange files.



3. Yes, PBASIC is designed for PF. You can find it on that

   FTP server too.



If you have any further needs, do not hesitate to e-mail.



-----------------------------------

*** Membership in CZ Portfolio Club



>Please send me more information

>about the club and how to get

>member of the club.



We are running support for PF users. 

The club has no official way to be a 

member. Everyone who is interested 

in PF and wants to help us with 

supporting Portfolio is te "member" 

of the club.



----------------------------------

*** Sending money for the products



>There is a problem on sending you

>money by the bank. My bank wants to

>have 40 USD for sending you the

>money on your bank account.

> Is there another way to pay you?



I think, maybe there is another bank 

in your city which will be cheaper 

on sending many to CZ. Maybe they 

will carry out the transaction.



Well I acually do not know any other 

way of sending money abroad. Maybe 

the holland post office may provide 

financial transfers to abroad.



Let me know if you succeed on 

reducing the cost of the fin. 

operation. There are also other 

people in my database from holland 

who may have benefit from your bank 

investigation.





--------------------

*** The FNT standard



> Your club suggested this standard for fontfiles.

> The header of such a file contains a byte that indicates the number of

> the defined characters. But why is there no Byte that indicates the ASCII-

> code of the first defined character?



This FNT standard is designed either for complete char sets, 

or for partial charsets. The reason for the byte defining the 

number of characters is to save the Portfolio memory. 



For example of you want to write "I LOVE PORTFOLIO" in some 

special large font, you need only E,F,I,L,O,P,R,T,V 

characters. So your FNT file will enclude a header and 9 bit 

maps. The "E" will have ASCII 00, F -01, I-02, etc. That is 

why it makes no sense to useanother byte to define the first 

ASCII character, as you suggest. The font may be incomplete 

and the definition byte would be misleading. 



> Are the ASCII-values part of the

> data behind the header?



NO, behind the header there are only bit maps, no other info.



--------------------------

*** ATARI dealers in Italy



From: Marco Greppi <marco.greppi@pmn.it>

According to Marco Greppi:

 

We are really interested in Your products for Portfolio.

Could You please send me more details?

 

Marco Greppi - Emmesoft (ITALIA)

Atari distributors for Italy

 

Our company is VERY interested in Protfolio produtcs.

Please rush me ASAP Your dealer prices with detailed 

information of products.

Thank You.



Marco Greppi - Emmesoft



Fax +39 11 4374311



------------------------------------------

*** BUG in MAZE.COM from soft-package no.3



The MAZE.COM is a 00 release. I mailed the the very day I 

have made it work.

There are three bugs:



-       Up-scrolling error

-       Keyboard too quick on bumping into the scorpions

-       There is a bug in the maze scheme so you can never

	reach the very end. I made a mistaken wall.



> I was at the left edge of the labyrinth and I wanted to go up. But when

> I reached the top of the screen, it scrolled into the wrong direction

> and it continued scrolling with every keystroke until the old position

> in memory had been reached again.

> 

> Also I have a suggestion: I would find it useful to clear the keyboard-

> buffer when running into a scorpion. Because I often hold down a cursor-

> key when moving into the same direction for some time

> and so it happens

> that I run into the same scorpion several times.



-------------------------------

*** A Superb Portfolio WWW Page



From: wwg28@rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de (Wolf R. Gross)



Latest Information on Portfolio including the Newsletters can 

be find on my Portfolio-Page now.

The URL is...



    http://rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de:8080/Portfolio



Try it, it is a perfect page.

And you can get back issues of PNEWS and software packages.



---------------

*** Credit Cards



\Do you accept credit card numbers?



Sorry, we do not accept credit cards. But you may

send us the money from your bank using SWIFT or

other bank services. Ask at you bank for details on

sending money to CZ.



-------------------

*** PORTFOLIO MODEM



/Can U please fax or EMail me any information you may have on 

/the Portfolio modem (speed, cost etc)?



I do not know much, about using a modem with Portfolio. 

Anyhow, you need the serial RS 232 interface to connect PF to 

a modem. 



I was told by PF guys in Germany that there is a company in 

Germany that has developed a software that will enable to use 

a Z-MODEM communication on Portfolio. They were told to 

develop a FAXing software for Portfolio too. That is all I 

know. 



In germany there should be a Portfolio BBS at the end of 

September. This means that there must be away to use modem on 

PF. I'll let you know if I know more.

 

-----------------------

*** ZMODEM ON PORTFOLIO



Here is more info and the address of the German company that 

offers the ZMODEM for Portfolio:



 PTerm V2.2                01/02/95   

				      

 This is a testversion of the up to   

 now only terminalprogram for the     

 Portfolio which includes the complete

 ZModem protocol. You're free to      

 distribute it in unmodified form     

 and without commercial purpose.      

				      

 The ZModem filetransfer is limited   

 in this testversion to files with    

 a size below 3 KB.                   

				      

 WHAT'S NEW IN PTerm V2.2 ?           

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~           

 - Logging sessions                   

 - Screen capture                     

				      

 To obtain the complete version of    

 PTerm without restrictions contact   

				      

  merle GbR.                          

  Starnberger Str. 7                  

  D-82343 Packing                     

  Germany                             

  FAX +49 89 3154268                  

				      

 or send the following to this address

				      

 ------------------------------------ 

				      

 Order form:                          



 ____ PTerm V2.0 incl. manual  DM 30,-

      (german), short manual          

      (eng.), disk (3,5" /5,25").         

				      

 ( ) I enclosed the amount (+ DM 10,- 

     s/h) in cash/check (either in DM 

     or any foreign currency)         

				      

 ( ) Please inform me about future    

     releases and other products      

     (Fax for the Portfolio will soon 

     be available!)                   





--------------------------------------

*** Folio Drive and Portfolio Capacity



Have you ever seen this on your Portfolio?



a>chkdsk d:

 1457664 bytes total disk capacity

   20480 bytes in 3 user files

 1436672 bytes available on disk

  520192 bytes total memory

  468464 bytes free



This is what FolioDrive gives you on

Portfolio with 512 KB RAM. Do you like it?



------------------------------------

*** Portfolio Club & Bank Connection



If you want to send us the money use following bank 

connection. You can send the money directrly, or via SWIFT, 

or by means of a cheque.



Send US dollars, or German Marks, please.



BANK:  Ceska sporitelna

       Jugoslavska 19

       120 00 Praha 2

       the Czech Republic



BANK CODE:  0800



OWNER OF ACCOUNT: Jan SEDLAK - Portfolio

		  Sarajevska 29

		  120 00 Praha 2

		  the Czech Republic



NUMBER OF ACCOUNT: 720252-028/0800



After you send the money, please e-mail.

After the money arrives, we will send you the parcel.



---------------------------------

*** Portfolio Hardware addon Idea



From: paulj@trideuk.demon.co.uk (Paul Jolliffe)



I have an idea for a PF hardware addon, but I don't have the 

technical skill or know anyone who could make it, if you are 

interested please e-mail me. 



This biggest problem I find with the portfolio is the lack of 

memory and disk space available.  Sure I can go and by a RAM 

card but a 128k card is the same price as 4 meg of SIMMS or 

8-10 Meg of DRAM. 



What would be a good idea, if it is possible, is a 'silicon 

disk' for the PF that either plugs into the card port or even 

better still the expansion port.  The unit should be about 

the size of a PF, maybe thicker.   



The unit would have a mainboard that with the correct 

circuitry (whatever  that might be) a set of sockets, if you 

opted for simms then simm sockets otherwise DRAM sockets, if 

they are DRAM sockets it could be double sided.  There would 

also be a seperate area for expansion of system memory.  The 

unit would need a battery backup which could be supplied from 

a ni-cadd or normall 'AA baterries'.

 

You could supply blank or populated boards that would allow 

users to populate it when they can afford more memory.  So 

they could start with 1 megabyte of either 4 * 256K 100ns 

simms or 8 * 1025K DRAMs chips, depending of which way you 

go.  The unit should be able to hold 10-20 megabytes which 

should be aple for most people.  It would work out more 

expensive than a HDU in the long run but you don't have to 

spend lots of cash to get some benefits. 



Because the PF is not the fastest machine in existance people 

would not  need to buy expensive chips. Currently I can 

purchase 256k 100ns SIMMS  for about 7.50 GBP and 1 Meg for 

22 GBP, 4 Meg 100 GBP. 



I realise that this might be an idealists view of hardware 

but my backgound is software.  All I have ever really done is 

software based. 



Let me know what you think, again thanks for the info etc ...



Editor response:



About your idea of the hardware add on.



A few months ago I was thinking about a similar project. To 

connect sth. like "a silicon disk" to PF to increase the disk 

capacity. But there are reasons that made me leave this idea. 



1. The DRAM and SIMMS  have extermely high consumption, about 

100 000 times higher than SRAM (static RAM) chips. For 

example teh SRAM chip we use in our 128 KB RAM card takes 

about 20nA (nano A) from the battery. The DRAM and   SIMMS 

usually need 100mA to 500mA of power when running. 



This means that it is not possible to power them from normal 

NiCds or AA bateries. They must be powered either from the 

socket or special alcaline rechargables  used in notebooks. 



I am sure you know that usual notebooks can sustain only  

about 2-3 hours on the batteries. And the SIMM consumpiton is 

one reason. 



2. Another problem is that the DRAM and SIMM chips must  be 

refreshed in order to keep the data. It would be a big  

burden for the Portfolio CPU to take care of the refreshing 

of the SIMMS. PF has enough troubles with refreshing  the LCD 

screen alone. 



3. Portfolio with any big hardware add on, becomes un-

portable and then it looses its value. Portfolio is a 

Portfolio becaase you can take it with you. 



4. There is a soulution for Portfolio memory and disk space: 

It is possible to upgrade the system RAM to 512 KB without 

any bigger problems. And there are the OPTROL flash cards 

with capacity up to 4 MB. This means that you can carry as 

much as 4 500 000 bytes in your Portfolio without any 

noticable change in consumption any without any change in 

Portfolio size. 



It is possible to have Portfolio upgraded to 512 KB for 195 

DEM. There exists a description of 512 KB upgrade so the VERY 

skillfull users can buy just the chips for 80 DEM and do the 

surgery at home. (I do not recommend it, because the 

upgrading is really a pricise brain surgery, no home 

soldering. One mistake and the motherboard of the PF is 

damaged for ever.) 



It is possible to get the 4 MB OPTROL CARD for 399 USD. Which 

is the price Portfolio used to be sold for a few years ago. 



5. And if there were still somebody in need of more than 4 

500 000 bytes in his Portfolio, HDD may be connected to 

Portfolio. I do not know the scheme mow. But I hope to get it 

soon. And then I think the problem of lack of memory will be 

solved for ever. 



---------------------------------

*** HARDWARE IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS



From: Stefan_Kaechele@fr.maus.de (Stefan Kaechele)



1. Serial and parallel in one housing



I`ve got a circuit diagram how to fit a parallel board piggy-

packing onto the serial interface. With a special hardware 

connection on the serial board the PoFo is told that there 

are both interfaces. This is undocumented by ATARI. With this 

"trick" you are able to access the parallel and serial 

interface at the same time. 



There is the $00 for the usage of both interfaces at the same 

time. You can adjust this kind of handling by software which 

changes the PID to $00, or by hardware access. In the 

original ATARI-interface this is hardware- done by the 74244-

circuit which has to be changed as follows: 

Pin 17 to unwire from pad-connection and connecting to GND 

e.g. pin 10.



Unfortunately there seem to exist different interfaces as 

there are existing quite different PoFos. Another guy who 

tried the change as mentioned before told me that his 

interface had to be changed by connecting pin 2 to pin 10 

still working as described. 



For myself I didn`t tried this change. I hope my infos are 

useful and you will be able to develop a cheap interface-

combination which will spare place and a second bus-

connector. 



2 - Internal drive B:

 

Just some month ago I've worked out a circuit diagram how to 

connect 32KB and 128KB-SRAMs inside the PoFo as card drive 

B:. So you can have an internal card drive B:, with the 

additional feature to be batterie- supported, if PoFo 

crashes(one more time). But there seems to be a minor bug in 

it which makes problems with some PoFos. I've to discuss this 

with some profis. I'll send the diagram occaisonally by FAX. 



----------------------------------

*** New Hardware under development



From: sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz



I started to work on a 3 to 8 digit  display connectable to 

PF through parallel interface. It is designed to display any 

numerical info (temperature, exchange rate, air pressure). I 

have testing board already and when I finish it I will send 

you the scheme. I plan to make it as a construction kit.



-----------------------------------------

*** Atari Show - will PF corner be there?



I got a following message about an ATARI show. I suggest that 

PF fans in US should contact the organizer of the show and 

ask about exhibition possibilities. This would help to get 

new/old PF users.  



The PF club in CZ will give special dealers pricing, if 

somebody will go there for the exhibiton with Portfolio 

products.

 

Here is the message:



From: sirsmedley@delphi.com

Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st

Subject: Dallas Atari Show Update

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 95 22:35:56 -0500

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



The Atari Users of North Texas Computer Exposition



The Atari Users of North Texas (AUNT) presents the D/FW Exchange

Underground  Computer Exposition (DEUCE). The show will be held in

Dallas this October in conjunction with the monthly DFW XChange

Corporation "Super Saturday" activities at the beautiful Dallas Infomart.

Show date is Saturday, October 7th. The exposition, along with the Super

Saturday activities, is free and open to the general public. The one day

exposition will begin at 8:30 AM and run until 4:00 PM. Both a Friday

evening pre-show get together and a post show get together are also

being planned.



October is a great time to visit the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. For

one thing we probably have better weather in October than most of the

rest of the world. The DFW Xchange Corporation  "Super Saturday"

activities are a monthly computer extravaganza where thousands of

computer enthusiast get together, share their computer interests and

enjoy some of the best computer and high-tech electronic buys in Texas.

This October will be special for us Atarians because many of our finest

developers and dealers will be participating in the activities.



The Dallas Infomart facility - a replica of the famous 1895 World Fair

Crystal Palace - is located in the heart of the Dallas Market District.

The facility is leased by the DFW Xchange Corporation each month to

provide a community service to all computer users in the  Metroplex area.

The Atari Users of North Texas is one of many participating user groups

that help support this community service by sharing our Atari computer

interests, general computer expertise and providing user assistance to

our local Atarians and the interested general public.



Vendors currently planning on participating include; It's All Relative,

Systems for Tomorrow, chroMagic, Crawly Crypt Corporation, Oregon

Research, Dave Munsie, DMJ software and Branch Always Software.



Vendors interested in participating can contact:

David Acklam

(214) 242-9655

GEnie ...... D.ACKLAM

Internet .... d.acklam@genie.geis.com.





----------------------------------------------------------

*** Current Price-List of PF products by Portfolio Club CZ



PORTFOLIO PRODUCTS

valid from 20 July 1995



Here is the price list for the products that we can offer 

you.

All prices are in German Marks (DEM) and all prices

do not take local tax and VAT into consideration.





PERIPHERALS MADE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC - 2 year warranty



code    description                               quant./price

				END 

				PRICE   1-5   6-30  31-100  101-250 251-1000

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

HPD 103 Genuine Leather Case

	with battery pocket     29      20      19      17      16      15



HPD 300 Parallel inteface 25 pin, 

	cable, software         79      60      55      50      45      40



HPD 350 Serial interface 9 pin,

	RS 232, software        115     86      80      75      70      60



HPD 400 RAM Card 128 KB,

  min 2 yr. battery life-span   119     94      89      79      65      60



HPD 450 PORTFOLIO MEGA-PACK

	RAM Card 128 KB,

	Parallel interf. 25 pin, 

	soft, cable, file man. 

	more, soft instal.      169     136     130     118     105     95



HPD 500 FolioDrive 3,5" FDD Unit

	to read and write 1,44 MB 

	diskettes from Portfolio

	Par. inferf., NiCd battery 

	pack, cable, soft and 32 KB 

	RAM Card incl. in the price 

				349     280     260     call    call    call



HPD 600 PortWalk tape recorder 

    interface mono/stereo 2MB

    on 60 minutes tape          59      35      30      25      22      20



---------------------------------

LITERATURE



HPD 202 Portfolio Technical Guide

 in English 120 pgs,+ disk      29      18      17      15      14      13



HPD 203 Portfolio Programmier Praxis, 

 in Deutsch 345pgs,+ disk       29      18      17      15      14      13



---------------------------------

ORIGINAL ATARI PRODUCTS



HPC 402 AC adapter 220 V        24      14      12      -       -       -



---------------------------------

OTHER SUPPORT



HPD 700 Upgrade your PF RAM

	to 512 KB               195     150     call    -       -       -

HPD 801 60 pin BUS connector    14      10      7       -       -       -

HPD 802 128KB SRAM chip         20      16      15      -       -       -

----------------------------------------------------

NOTES:



END PRICE       - suggested end-user price, we sell to individuals

		 at this price

call            - get current information personally

----------------------------------------------------



contact person:         Jan Sedlak      sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz



			Portfolio       Sarajevska 29

					120 00 Praha 2

					the Czech Republic



			tel:            + 42 2 99 61 894

			fax no:         + 42 2 29 51 86









---------------------

*** Portfolio Archive 



The anonymous FTP server is:



src.doc.ic.ac.uk



directory:



computing/systems/atari/umich/Portfolio

pub/packages/atari/umich/Portfolio



Here is the list of the files on the server:



Portfolio:      [Note several subdirectories]



Portfolio/Applications:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

function.lzh    11      Program to draw graphs of x-y functions

outline.lzh     78      Turns input into outline form

pbe13.lzh       24      The PBASIC Editor for MS/DOS systems

pfcijf.lzh      18      ??? worksheet program ???

pim.lzh         56      menu manager and forms based database management system

rpncalc.lzh     33      Reverse Polish Notation scientific calculator

typist.lzh      2       tool to learn to type on Portfolio keyboard

vde15.lzh       89      text editor with many standard features

w_sheet.lzh     7       ??? sample worksheets ???

ws_edit.lzh     21      worksheet editor





Portfolio/Archivers:



Index           ??      Verbose list of files in this directory

arcex.com       7       uncompressed arc compression program for portfolio

arcex.doc       12      uncompressed doc file for arcex

arcex.lzh       9       arc compression package for portfolio

lzexe91.lzh     42      compress but still run portfolio executables

lzhe.com        5       uncompressed lzh compression program for portfolio

lzhe.doc        6       uncompressed doc file for lzhe

lzhe100.lzh     6       lzh compression package for portfolio

pk361.exe       128     pkstuff package for atari portfolio (self extracting?)





Portfolio/Bootstrap:



Index                           0       Verbose file list (this file)

bootst10.lzh                    168     do file-transfers between Sun and Pofo

bootst11.lzh                    168     version 1.1 of above

pf-bootstrap-v1.0a.tar.Z        184     version 1.0a of pf bootstrap (.tar.Z)

pf-bootstrap-v1.1a.tar.Z        184     version 1.1a of pf bootstrap (.tar.Z)





Portfolio/Demos:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

pf_demo.lzh     6       ??? atari portfolio demo ???

pim.lzh         1       symbolic link -> applications/pim.lzh

port_art.lzh    12      demo program distributed with Borland's Turbo Pascal

portprgs.lzh    11      ??? miscillaneous programs for pofo ???

psi.lzh         3       ???

zdemo2.com      1       symbolic link -> languages/zbasic/zdemo2.com



Portfolio/Games:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this archive (this file)

blkbst.lzh      2       Block Buster for the atari st (needs PBasic)

cmpndium.arc    15      Compendium of games (Chess/Solitare/Chin Check, etc.)

digdec.lzh      6       card trick program

dozen.lzh       3       ???

merlin.lzh      5       ???

othello.lzh     5       othello runs on portfolio (set the screen to static)

pchess.lzh      26      play chess against the Portfolio

phoenix.lzh     7       Phoenix, some sort of space shoot 'em up game.

sherlock.lzh    26      mystery adventure game

simon.lzh       5       Simon sez type copycat game

spin.exe        5       Number Puzzle

tetrad.lzh      12      tetris game for the portfolio

tron.lzh        3       tron cycle game

vader.lzh       3       space invaders (needs PBasic)





Portfolio/Graphics:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

logos.lzh       2       custom screen display at start-up

pgsh21.lzh      7       fast graphics demo

pix.lzh         5       Graphics pix demonstration

sketch.lzh      5       Sketch program for the Portfolio





 pbasic:



  pbas21.lzh    43      PBasic version 2.1

  pbas30.lzh    65      PBasic version 3.0

  pbas40.lzh    112     PBasic version 4.0

  pbas41.lzh    112     PBasic version 4.1

  pbas45.lzh    176     PBasic version 4.5

  pbas491.lzh   216     Latest hot off the press PBasic version 4.91!!!

  pbasprgs.lzh  4       Assorted basic programs





 zbasic:



  zbasic.hlp    33      help file for pofo version of zbasic

  zbasic.lzh    29      Compact basic product that runs on the Portfolio

  zdemo2.com    54      demo of zbasic

  zpfnotes.txt  2       notes of portfolio version of zbasic

  zrun321.lzh   28      run zbasic files without interpreter

  zxamples.lzh  26      example zbasic files





Portfolio/Languages:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

bxd26.lzh       25      debugger, duns on the portfolio

min4th25.lzh    15      VERY minimum version of FORTH

pbasic/         1       directory for pbasic files (see below)

tbasic.lzh      31      Tiny BASIC, this basic doesn't know string functions.

vtlisp.lzh      17      Very Tiny LISP from AI Expert

xlisp.lzh       176     experimental version of lisp and support files

zbasic/         1       directory for zbasic files (see below)



 pbasic:



  pbas21.lzh    43      PBasic version 2.1

  pbas30.lzh    65      PBasic version 3.0

  pbas40.lzh    112     PBasic version 4.0

  pbas41.lzh    112     PBasic version 4.1

  pbas45.lzh    176     PBasic version 4.5

  pbas491.lzh   216     Latest hot off the press PBasic version 4.91!!!

  pbasprgs.lzh  4       Assorted basic programs



 zbasic:



  zbasic.hlp    33      help file for pofo version of zbasic

  zbasic.lzh    29      Compact basic product that runs on the Portfolio

  zdemo2.com    54      demo of zbasic

  zpfnotes.txt  2       notes of portfolio version of zbasic

  zrun321.lzh   28      run zbasic files without interpreter

  zxamples.lzh  26      example zbasic files





Portfolio/Sound:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

ptone.lzh       7       Generate tones via file or keyboard

yankee.lzh      10      Music for the portfolio





Portfolio/Support:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

addres.sit      14      Mac Hypercard stack allows imp/exp (requires StuffIt)

ag2por.lzh      3       Lotus Agenda macros - export agenda data to pofo

buckets.lzh     21      database program - calculates number of BINs required

flash.lzh       1       symbolic link to -> utilities/flash.lzh

pcrd11.lzh      30      Win 3.0 cardfile <-> pofo address (needs vbrun100.lzh)

porttost.lzh    1       symbolic link to -> telecomm/porttost.lzh

prtcrd.lzh      29      Convert address ADR files to Win 3.0 Cardfile CRD files

stfoli.lzh      46      Parallel file transer

vbrun100.lzh    176     Win 3.0 Visual Basic Runtime

wpcal.lzh       37      Convert WordPerfect Cal to DRY





Portfolio/Telecomm:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

acom11.lzh      16      Terminal program

dial.lzh        2       Xterm dialer

ft.com          11      Parallel module file transfer program

pfboot.lzh      1       symbolic link to -> utilities/pfboot.lzh

port8bit.lzh    3       Tech doc describing pofo to Atari 8 bit connecting

porttost.lzh    5       GET Xterm on the Portfolio without files transfer

quick.lzh       7       Input cheques in the field and upload to Quicken later

slave.lzh       18      Host program (Pofo to any terminal supporting X-Modem)

xterm2.lzh      5       Term program, includes XMODEM file transfer capability





Portfolio/Text:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory (this file)

dkusdocs.lzh    7       english docs to replace some deutch docs in archive

newport.lzh     5       Tech Overview of Portfolio accessories

newsfile.lzh    5       portadd text file

portadd.lzh     21      more portadd text files

porthelp.lzh    10      excellent help files

portnews.txt    16      text file about pofo uses, etc.

prttxt.lzh      6       Textfile Create HOT KEYS on the Pofo using ANSI.SYS

tips.lzh        3       Hints by Sjoerd Spoelstra





Portfolio/Utilities:



Index           0       Verbose list of files in this directory

acdpw2.lzh      5       Password protect your data files

addres.lzh      6       Address file viewer

almboost.lzh    3       Louder alarm-tone, saves batteries by turning off 

attr.lzh        2       Set/reset file attributes (hidden etc) 

backup.lzh      1       backup of autoexec.bat and config.sys files

bat2ex13.lzh    40      compile batch files, output runs on Portfolio

batchio.lzh     4       Very handy batchfiles by Sjoerd

battst.lzh      6       Battery tester for Portfolio

bm2.lzh         4       Battery reminder program

cbase.lzh       21      Create scripts to collect data in the field

cc3.lzh         2       Metric conversion (requires BASIC)

ced.com         7       Remembers DOS cmds, recall using cursor keys. (?.DOM)

clock.lzh       5       Large Portfolio clock

dbfread.lzh     8       Suitable for DBase III and clones like clipper

did.lzh         1       ???

dosedi.com      2       DOS command line editor, remembers last few commands

dosedit.lzh     5       Powerful program that recalls previous DOS commands

drysk.lzh       4       Diary files to sidekick

filelist.bat    1       Batch shows directory of system (1)

flash.lzh       16      BSE Flashcard drivers for connecting HD to Portfolio

fm.com          8       Atari Files Manager

fs.exe          3       Small flight simulator, Not much on graphics but fun

grep.lzh        16      Text search program

hdir.lzh        4       Horizontal directory

listfg.com      3       displays fragmented files

noclick.com     1       ??? turn off keyclick ???

ohm.lzh         5       Convert color codes of resistors

password.lzh    2       Password Protection Utility for Portfolio

pdd2menu.lzh    14      Driver for Radio Shack Portable disk drive

pf60by10.lzh    11      change screen to 60 col by 10 lines

pfbackup.lzh    3       Backup utility

pfboot.lzh      40      Serial interface program to load terminal

pfcalc.lzh      9       Programmers calculator utility for Atari Portfolio

pfclock.lzh     9       Screen filling clock program by Paralax



portutil.lzh    15      Setup files for the Portfolio

ptool.lzh       22      set of excellent Portfolio utilities

rg.lzh          5       Various tools, collected by Richard Gigengack

sdir24.lzh      3       utility to sort directories

sdl.lzh         4       directory utility

show314.lzh     23      shows information about the running DOS and hardware

sm.com          1       Change screen mode from dos prompt of batch file

snatch.lzh      14      Grab PC screen shots and run them on the Portfolio

spb.lzh         11      Removes unneeded lines and REM's from PBasic progams

srch.lzh        10      Search diary and address files for a string

strip.lzh       10      Strips carriage returns from ASCII files

textco.lzh      37      Remove returns from text files except end of paragraphs

timezn.lzh      1       Reset system clock when you are in different time zones

uncrash.com     1       Resets crashed programs using [FN]-B

updt107.com     2       Latest update

utils.lzh       5       additional utilities for pofo

vdel.com        1       Prompts y/n before any delete file operation

wcx.lzh         2       Word Count utility



/* end of Portfolio directory */





---------------------------------

*** Opening the LCD display on PF



It's much easier to (carefully) remove the plastic cover from 

the LCD screen (the one with the PORTFOLIO logo) with a 

knife. Start from the side opposite the speaker and lift the 

cover to the other side. It's no problem to put it back into 

place later because it's self-adhesive. Just make sure not to 

bend it to prevent damage. After that you just have to remove 

the screws and (carefully) split the halfs of the display 

with a flat screwdriver. If you've done it once you'll see 

how it works. Not a big deal. Now you can remove the display 

board with the cable. 



This job should be finished in about five minutes.



-----------------------------------

*** Another FTP place for Portfolio



From ann@ifn.ing.tu-bs.de Fri Aug 18 10:11:26 1995



I am a new owner of a Portfolio. I found the archive at 

nic.switch.ch and I have few programs originating from the 

amateur packet radio net. 



Ulrich Ann (DL2HBX)     Internet: ann@ifn.ing.tu-bs.de



--------------------------------------

*** Programming:  LOAD.COM or LOAD.EXE



1. Fundamentals

There are bulit-in applications on Portfolio that can be 

evoked form DOS by APP/x command, where x is the application 

required.

 

But the APP command does not enable to open specific file in  

a required application. You can only evoke the application 

with the last file edited.

 

There is a way to solve the problem by using a "buffer 

filling" programs like FAKE.COM or KIM.COM. But it is not 

nice and not very quick. 



That is why  the LOAD command file should be made for 

Portfolio.



2. Syntax



LOAD app [file_name] [/s]



app - required application:     a - Address book

				e - Editor

				d - Diary

				w - Worksheet



file_name       - name of the file to be loaded into the 

		  application - whole path is also allowed 

		  (D:\TEXTS\DATA\LETTER.TXT)

		- it is optional, if not given, the last edited 

		  file will be used

		- the extention is optional too. If you open the

		  Editor, filename LETTER will be assumed to be

		  LETTER.TXT 



/s              - switches for example:

			/f0     - no frame [F5-key] in aplication

			/f1     - turn on the frame in app.

			/s[dir] - search for file in drive,directory

				  and subdirectories 



Example:



LOAD w budget95 /sD:\MONEY /f0



- will serch for file BUDGET95.WKS in directory D:\MONEY and 

the subdirectories. After finding the file the application 

will be opened without the frame. If the file is not found, 

the load will open a new file with the given file_name. 



3. Technique

In directory C:\SYSTEM, there is a file PERMDATA.DAT which 

stores in itself the info about the files used in the 

applications. If you change the file definition in 

PERMDATA.DAT the aplication will be opened with the new 

definition.

 

There are also other infomation stored in PERMDATA.DAT (e.g. 

the last frame [F5] status) and these may be modified too. 



4. Required know-how



The definition of the file PERMADATA.DAT is described in the 

HPD 202 Portfolio Technical Guide (in English). You can order 

the HPD 202 from Portfolio Club, Czech Republic. 



The only problem maybe how to start the built-in from a 

running file. But there must be some way. 



5. Realization and Support



If you decide to make the LOAD file, please let me know. If 

you do not want to order the HPD 202, I can send you FREE 

copy of the pages about the PERMDATA.DAT file. 



If you need any help or support, you can e-mail, mail or 

phone me.



After realization, I suggest to allow the software together 

with the source code be freed for public use. LOAD command is 

something that is missing very much on Portfolio 



6. ADDRESS



Here is the address to get the support for the LOAD 

development:



Jan Sedlak - Portfolio

Sarajevska 29

CZ 120 00 Praha 2

the Czech Republic - Europe



tel./modem  + 42 2 691 11 63

fax         + 42 2 29 51 86

e-mail      sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz



**********************************************

This issue was published on September 4, 1995.

**********************************************

Special greetings to:



Don Messerli            - for his soft and graphics

BJ Gleason              - for PBASIC and tons of other things

S. Spoelstra            - for his BASIC, and others

S. Kaechele		- for his hardware

W.T. Holl		- greetings to all PF fans in Germany

Martin & Milan Hrdlicka - the authors of new graphic BIOS

Dave Steward    	- although Re:Port is dead, you live



and to other PF friends who support us



