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

*                                     *

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

*                                     *

*        Internet newsletter for      *

*     Atari Portfolio users and fans  *

*                                     *

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

       No 3      June 20, 1995



INDEX OF THIS ISSUE



- CD-ROM DISK

- EMAIL ADDRESS

- URGENT!  -  SUPPORT RE:PORT

  the only English PF magazine still exists

- THE RE:PORT INDEX

- HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PF USERS

- HISTORY OF PORTFOLIO CLUB IN CZ (CZECH REPUBLIC)



- ATARI PORTFOLIO ON THE NET AND IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

- - UNITED KINGDOM

- - GERMANY

- - SWEDEN

- - THE UNITED STATES

- - FRANCE

- - ITALY



- HELP CORNER

- - serial program SLAVE



- SOFTWARE PACKET No 2

- - SERIAL COMMUNICATION - ACOM



- PORTFOLIO PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM PORTFOLIO CLUB

- MORE INFO ON THE 1 MB RAM CARDS

- THE 1.44 MB FDD UNIT for Portfolio

- WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR



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

CD - ROM disk with PF soft in fall (autumn)



> Yesterday (8.VI.1995) we received information

> about the permission to place up to 60 MB of

> Portfolio soft on a CD ROM disk that will

> be published in fall.

>

> Now we are looking for all PF fans who want to

> share in this project and are willing to make

> some soft for PF and place it on the disk.



Do you want to join this project?  60 MB is enough

place for your soft and ideas. Please e-mail as soon

as possible to get more info.





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

> EMAIL ADDRESS

>

> use this address

>

> sedlakj@dec59.ruk.cuni.cz

>

> other addresses seem not to work from some servers.

>

> If any e-mail trouble, be persistant. We do exist.

>

> FAX NUMBER:

>

> if any  trouble with connection use: this FAX number:

> + 42 2 29 51 86

> please indicate that it is a fax for PORTFOLIO CLUB

>

> or phone

> + 42 2 99 61 894 (also answering machine)

>





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

* URGENT!  -  SUPPORT RE:PORT



THE RE:PORT MAGAZINE STILL EXISTS !

It is the only paper magazine for Portfolio in English

that has survived. 17 issues has been published.



Here is what the publisher DAVE STEWARD has sent us:



I am offering back issues for  US $10 (US funds only!) each.

Here is the

information, which you  may feel free to pass  on to others.

I hope your

Portfolio club goes on for a long time!



Any of  these issues can  be had for  US $10 each  (check or

money order only)

from:



Re:Port

c/o David Stewart

1504 Winterset Parkway

Marietta, GA 30067



Each issue comes with a 3.5" IBM DD disk, which can be read by the Atari ST

computers as well as Macintosh computers with SmartDrives (and of course

by any IBM-PC compatible computer).



Just indicate the volume/issue numbers that you want.  Please allow four

to six weeks for shipping.



If you have any questions about the issues or programs that you'd like,

please send email to 73770,2021 on CompuServe or DAVESTEW@NETCOM.COM on the Internet.



NOTE: Please place your order as soon as possible!  Re:Port is stopping

publication soon.  This offer may not last!





Please SUPPORT DAVE STEWARD - he needs encouragement and encouragement!!!



- send him e-mail and subscribe to this magazine

- the Re:port is a unigue source of programs for Portfolio

- send him texts and files to be published



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

THE RE:PORT INDEX



Here is the list (index) of the issues published:



Volume 1, Issue 1

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

Article: Welcome to Re:Port

Gleason on PBasic (PBASIC)

>From the Editor: 60View instructions (60VIEW)

Editorial: Non-disclosure policy slows Port development

DOS Tips

Backup and restore C: drive with batch files (BACKUP.BAT, RESTORE.BAT)

Editor: Macro puts text in date, documents (MACRO)

Worksheet: Checkbook balancing (CHECK.WKS)

Address Book: Using the Port as a study partner

Industry News





Volume 1, Issue 2

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

Spell checker (SPLCHK)

Stupid Port Tricks: Worksheet games (DICE.WKS)

Quick Tip: Battery watching

Industry News: HyperList, music program, RAM card replacement cases

Gleason on PBasic (PBASIC 4.9)

PBasic vs. PowerBASIC

Online Services (Complete text listings of CompuServe

      and GEnie library areas.  Since then, we have

      published only bimonthly additions)

Backup/restore (BR)

Book Review: Abacus Port guide

Bug RePort: Macro update (MACRO)

Tip on hiding files

Mailbox





Volume 1, Issue 3

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

Program Reviews: Finance, Terminator 2 File Manager, PowerBASIC,

      Business Contacts and Information Manager

Editor: Getting .HOO files to work

Industry news: Port memory, Util compiler, shareware disks

Checkbook program with link to Quicken (CHECK)

Settings program (SETTINGS)

Piano program (PIANO)

Gleason on PBasic

Online Services (LISTINGS, BANNER, CGASHOW, CODE, DIAL, ESHOW, LAUNCH,

      MAC, MUTE, PGCUNIT, SCRMODE, SECURE, TRIG)

Ordering information

Mailbox (UPDATE.COM, ANSI.SYS)





Volume 1, Issue 4

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

Updated Launch program (LAUNCH)

Industry News: 512K cards, APB book, graphics service

Gleason on PBasic

Worksheet tip

Review: Instant Speller

Battery monitor program (BAT)

Jeopardy helper program (JEO)

Beginner's column: Dropping File Manager

Online Services (LISTINGS)

Advanced column: Graphics

Looking ahead: Port in space

DOS to Port: Adventure games

Services: Fast shipping, custom programming





Volume 1, Issue 5

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

Worksheet: Plot graphics (SEEWORK)

Port uses: Police work

Industry News: Hard drives, carrying cases, European software

Review: HyperList

Gleason on PBasic (PREAD)

Graphics programs (PDRAW, PGCVIEW, ANIMATIONS)

Solitaire game (SOL)

Beginner's column: Getting files from the desktop to your Port

Port problems: How to install a PC Card Drive

Quick tip: Faxing

Advanced programming: Graphics routines in Turbo Pascal

User-to-User: Get things done





Volume 1, Issue 6

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

Communications (PORTCOM)

>From the Editor: Moving to Iowa

Industry News: Port demo, movie star, RAM cards

Gleason on PBasic

Pacman-like game (PORTMAN)

Windows graphics on the Port (WINPGC)

Editor/Diary: To-do program (TODO)

Voice synthesis (HELP, BIRTHDAY)

Best sellers

Beginner's column: Tips!

Communications routines

Online services (LISTINGS)





Volume 2, Issue 1

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

News on 1/2/4 meg cards

Industry News: Carrying case, more sound, British newsletter

PowerBASIC column

Snake game (SNAKE)

Bug RePort (TODO)

Editor: Delete utility (DELETE.HOO)

Review: DOS Utilities Card (feature complete list of card contents)

More on editor hooks

How to write hooks

Online services (LISTINGS)





Volume 2, Issue 2

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

Universal Interface announced

Back issue list

1/2/4 meg cards unavailable

PBASIC memory

Terminal+ review

Copy protection

Custom alarms

Simon game

60Hook

Resize C: drive

Double disk space

DOS help

TSR programming





Volume 2, Issue 3

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

Universal Interface review

1993 Port Tips

524K FlashCards

Screen fader

Address Book

Concentration game

Custom alarms

Error messages

Special Port ports





Volume 2, Issue 4

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

FlashCards available

Lynx available

CD-ROM

New PBASIC

Grocery shopper

Skiing game

DOS programs

Dealing with archives

Input controls





Volume 2, Issue 5

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

PBASE review

Move to Atlanta

Atari & IBM

Reading .WKS files in PBASIC

SuperPrint utility

Peg game

Memory and storage space

Online help

Making hook files work





Volume 2, Issue 6

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

Optrol delivers 1, 2, 4 megs cards

Review of Autobyte TimerKeeper ROM card

BSE drops Universal Interface

Atari release Jaguar game system

Minefield game

Program to adding quick meetings to diary file

Updated WINPGC program

Beginners: Understanding disk drives

Advanced: The .DRY file format

Mailbox





Volume 3, Issue 1

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

Port upgrade guide

CONFIG.SYS configuration can save memory

Port CD-ROM available

TIPI programming language

Punk Jr. game

FIND program seeks our Port files

Review of desktop versions of Port programs

Beginners: Battery usage

Advanced: Scrolling on the Port screen

Mailbox





Volume 3, Issue 2

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

How to find Port info on the Internet

Optrol drops 524K card

FILTER program organizes address books

HEADACHE solitaire game

Beginners: Using the Port online

Advanced: The .ADR file format

Mailbox





Volume 3, Issue 3

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

The Perfect Palmtop

ZModem on the Port

WIPEINFO ensures deleted data stays gone

POKER game deals fun

Beginners: Year-end Port tips

Advanced: Object-oriented Port library?



Volume 3, Issue 4

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

Re:Port announces that it is stopping publication

Bon Voyage to PBASIC creator BJ Gleason

ADR utility finds any name in any .ADR file fast

CRYPTO game offers hours of puzzling fun

Re:Port reader takes you on his travels

Review of World Clock program



Volume 3, Issue 5

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

Re:Port's last issue, not yet to press

   Should be available by Aug. 1, 1995.



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

REAL LIFE : David E. Stewart

INTERNET  : davestew@netcom.com

COMPUSERVE: 73770,2021

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







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

* HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PF USERS



Many of the PF users will never get in touch with Internet.

And if they do, search engines for WWW and NET usually produce

no information about Portfolio.



We can help PF users in  the outer world (and we are obliged

to do  so, they are our  computer friends). Experience shows

that they are glad if they learn that PF has not died.



Here are three tips how to help other PF users:



      1.      where to find them

      2.      what to offer them

      3.      run a local club





1. Where to find PF users (in your country):



* read private advertisements in  PC magazines. You can find

people selling PF. Try to touch them. They will be surprised

and they  usually say that they  would not sell PF  it there

were more new  things. There are new things  but they do not

know about them. And will not know UNLESS YOU TELL THEM.



* read  private advertisements  in city  FREE-AD newspapers.

There are usually columns for computers and people can place

an AD for PF here for  nothing (those who sell PF usually do

not want to spend any extra many).



* in  many countries  there are  strong groups  of Atari  ST

users.  Often ATARI  ST users  have Portfolio.  Get in touch

with them.



* dealers -  some dealers of  Atari stuff have  addresses of

people who bought things from them.



* if you want - place your own advertisement in PC magazine,

or  FREE-AD  newspaper.  (Well,  it  proved  not  to  be too

efficient)



2. What to offer to a newly found PF user



* Prepare a  diskette with some files  that you yourself use

and add things from internet or other sources. You can offer

such a diskette for some price (5 USD or so).



* Write  some  short  summary   of  what  is  available  for

Portfolio. And there are many things. (E.g. print this issue

of Portfolio News on your printer and distribute it.)



* Inform  the PF  users that  there is  RE:PORT magazine and

Portfolio News (you are just reading) available and that you

can get him a copy. (again you can ask for some money)





What is available for Portfolio - a brief list

(information  for   any  PF  fans   especially  outside  the

internet)



- new Portfolios still sold

- many countries (many old dealers) still support Portfolio

- parallel, serial inteface avaialble

- parallel  intefaces,   RAM  cards  are   produced  by  our

Portfolio club

- FDD 1.44 MB unit for Portfolio (completely new product for

all PF users)

- 1 MB  RAM cards still sold  ( only a few  PF users outside

the USA know about the 1 MB RAM cards)

- Re:port Magazine still published

- Portfolio News published in Czech  on paper and in English

on the net

- old soft and new soft



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

* History of Portfolio club in CZ (Czech Republic)

  (written by JS)



First  Portfolios arrived  in CZ  in 1989.  There were  some

activities  at  that  time,   something  like  a  club,  but

everybody relied on Atari dealers. In 1993 the Atari died in

Europe and so did the dealers in CZ.



Many (cca 3000) Portfolios have  been sold in CZ since 1989.

The greatest problem was  the national version of Portfolio.

Atari  dealers told  everybody that  it was  not possible to

make PF  "speak" Czech unless chips  inside PF were changed.

This "operation" increased the price of PF by 1/3.



I bought a second hand PF in  fall 1993. Soon I learned that

without PC or a RAM card  my data were always lost. Then, in

Jan 1994, I finally saved some  money and bought a RAM Card.

I happened to  get a diskette with  BJ GleasonP2s PBASIC 4.91

and  I  learned  it  is  possible  to  work in graphics with

a speed of up to 20 screens per second.



This gave me the idea that national version can be achieved.

I wrote  a  simple  text  editor  running  in graphics using

PBASIC. And it worked. I  became sure that if somebody wrote

the same in assembler it would  be as fast as the text mode.

I looked for someone to do this  job. I did not find anybody

so  I wrote  an assembler  editor (called  Czech editor)  by

myself.



But later  I found two brothers  (Martin and Milan Hrdlicka)

who  were  making  soft  for  Portfolio  and  they completed

resident driver for screen and keyboard.



So the first  goal - national version has  been achieved. We

started to  sell the Czech editor  and the national version.

Thus we got in touch with other PF users. We saw the need to

produce  hardware  -  so  we  started  - RAM Cards, parallel

interfaces, FDD unit, PortWalk and software.







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

Atari Portfolio on the Net and in different countries



Here  is   a  list  of  some   places  that  have  Portfolio

information.  Please check  them out  and send  us back your

findings. Or compile list of things really available.





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

UNITED KINGDOM:



Atari Web Pages Latest News

Version 1.0     Date   6/6/95

by Mark Stephen Smith



Hello and welcome  to the news item on  the Atari Web pages.

This document

will  describe  the  Atari  Web  pages  as  provided by Mark

Stephen Smith and will

inlcude  a list  of the  latest updates  for the month. Each

month I hope to update

this  text with  the very  latest additions  and news on the

Atari Web pages.



Hopefully these pages will  provide an invaluable service to

their users, but

they  are still  at an  early stage  and developing  all the

time. As such any

feedback and  support you may  have for these  pages is more

than welcome, it is

infact encouraged. The  more input I get from  its users the

better, as then I

will know  what is good  and bad about  these pages and  can

change them

approproately in the hope of increasing their value to their

readers.



Where do I find the Atari Web page?

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

>From your Web browser choose to open URL and enter the following address:



http://www.mcc.ac.uk/~dlms/atari.html



If you can store a hotlist of addresses or something similar on your browser

then it may be worth including this address for quick access in the future.



Once you've done that you should see my main page so I hope you enjoy it, and

don't forget to write with your thoughts.



(*NOTE*: This is the new site for the Atari Web pages, take note of it!)



Newsgroups

~~~~~~~~~~

Atari related newsgroups.  Send updates.  The currently supported news are:



comp.binaries.atari.st

comp.sys.atari.advocacy

comp.sys.atari.announce

comp.sys.atari.st

comp.sys.atari.st.tech

comp.sys.atari.programmer

rec.games.video.atari

alt.games.lynx





What to expect in the future

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

...... In the near future I will be adding a Portfolio section to cover the portable

computer by Atari called the Portfolio.  This area will be supported by the Portfolio club.



Thank you and see you with the updates to these pages next month!



Mark Stephen Smith : msh@dl.ac.uk or dlms@nessie.mcc.ac.uk

Atari Web Pages    : http://www.mcc.ac.uk/~dlms/atari.html





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

GERMANY:



I am searching for Portfolio-Stuff on the net... Pages, Software, etc.

Do you know some places for it? I've already put some Portfolio-Info's

in my Homepage (rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de:1701/u1/wwg28/www/acf.html).



greetings,

   Wolf



From: wwg28@rzserv4.fh-lueneburg.de (Wolf-Rainer-Gross)



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

GERMANY:



Hallo,



A german company in Hannover still sells portfolios for 130 DM.



The address of the Hannover company is:



Digital Data Deicke, Nordring 9, D-30163 Hannover, Tel.: +49-511-6370-54 (-55).

FAX-number I don't have.



Best greetings



Rolf (henze@hrz.uni-kassel.de)





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

SWEDEN:



I live in Sweden and have looked at a portfolio at a shop in Stockholm. Since I am an ST owner, I would love to have a Portfolio as well. If I can get some of these

things from you I will definitely consider a Portfolio.



Regards



Mikael Hillborg,

Computer Scientist,

Sweden



Email: Mikael.Hillborg@eua.ericsson.se





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

THE UNITED STATES



Portfolio Support Area  -  Fred Horvat



    Well a couple issues back I mentioned I would give a list of

dealers that supported our favorite palmtop.  Well below is a list of

places that either have hardware, software, or both for the

Portfolio.  Besides the listed dealers a great source of information

and software is online.  The larger bulletin boards services like

Compuserve and Genie have file directories just for the Portfolio.  I

also believe under the Atari file archives you can still request

files from the Portfolio directory.  Besides the files, online there

is a wealth of information about the Portfolio and palmtop computing

in general.  Beside bulletin boards as a source for public domain an

shareware software is from public domain librarians.  For a list of

commercial software vendors check out the book that came with every

Portfolio called "APB" which stands for Accessories, Peripherals,

Bulletin.  Besides having commercial software available it has tips

and other use full information.  The version I have is Volume 2,

Number 1.  I believe this was the last one printed.  If you don't

have a copy of the "APB" contact Atari, the cost listed on the cover

is $1.00.  Last but not least let us not forget our local user groups

and Atari dealers that have been there all these years for us.



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

Atari Computer Corporation

1196 Borregas Avenue

Sunnyvale, CA  94089-1302

408-745-2000



Services Available : Atari Portfolio purchases, exchanges, APB

software purchases (if available).

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

B&C ComputerVisions

1725 De La Cruz Blvd. #7

Santa Clara, CA  95050-3011

Phone : 408-986-9960

Fax   : 408-986-9968



Services Available : Full service Atari dealer.  Sells Portfolio,

software, Hardware, flashcards, and more for the Portfolio.

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

BRE Software

352 W. Bedford Ave

Suite 104

Fresno, CA  93711

Orders : 800-347-6760

Information : 209-432-3072



Services Available : Portfolio public domain and shareware software.

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

Dayton Discount & Sound

Hwy. 92

Belleville, WI  53508

Phone 608-424-6111 Tues-Sat 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM



Services Available : Atari dealer.  Sells Porftolio, Software, and more.

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

D&P Computer

P.O. Box 811

Elyria, OH  44036

Orders : 800-535-4290

Information : 216-926-3842



Services Available : Full service Atari dealer.  Sells Portfolio,

software, hardware, flashcards, and more for the Portfolio.

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

It's All Relative

2233 Keeven Lane

Florissant, MO  63031

Phone : 314-831-9482



Services Available : CD-ROM and software dealer.  Some Atari CD-ROMS

have Portfolio public domain and shareware software.

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

Toad Computers

570-F Ritchie Highway

Severna Park, MD  21146

Orders : 800-448-8623

Information : 410-544-6943

Fax : 410-544-1329

BBS : 410-544-6999



The hotest  info:



New PF                     $200

1MB RAM/FLASH CARD         $179

PC Card drive              $79

110V AC adapter            $10

Portfolio Books            $17



Contact:



David Troy                           [toad@charm.net]

Toad Computers, Inc.                 (800) 448-8623 Orders

America's Atari Source               (410) 544-6943 Info

 http://www.charm.net/~toad/         (410) 544-1329 FAX

 ftp://ftp.charm.net/pub/home/toad/  (410) 544-6999 BBS

 Pushing for a GEM Web Browser!      (410) 544-0098 FAX-Back



There is a WEB page for Portfolio!!!



Services Available : Full service Atari dealer.  Sells Portfolio,

software, hardware, memorycards, CD-ROMS, and more for the Portfolio.

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





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

THE UNITED STATES



Hello again,



>There are some arichves that have PF files.

>There is CAIN who has Portfolio Corner.



I have taken all the files from archive.umich,edu, and am looking through

them. Cain carries only a little bit of info, I will send them some when my

pages are ready.



I am putting together WWW page, I have the FAW, and and putting up

anything else I can about the Portfolio, please sen me any info you have,

and I'll put it on a special page. you can MIME enclose it in a message

here, or you can ftp stuff to:

donna.umd.edu in the /pub/incoming dir.



Andrew Diller          |



dillera@is-next.umd.edu

andy@rasputin.umd.edu



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

THE UNITED STATES



Hi.



I have an old Atari Portfolio collecting dust -- what kind of activities

are you aware of on the net for Port users?



I have a few Atari Portfolio programs that I wrote on phxmedia.com in the

/pub/coolstuff/ directory.  Check them out!  (Games mostly)



Jay Vaughan           > MAIL - jay@phxmedia.com

Phoenix Media Labs    > WEB  - http://phxmedia.com





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

FRANCE



The  company  TURTLE  BAY  INFORMATIQUE  sells Portfolio and

peripherals.  They  have  ordered  some  products  from  our

Portfolio club. This  means that PF users in  France can buy

the products in their own country.



Here is the address:



Turtle Bay Informatique

90, rue massena

69006 Lyon

tel: 72 75 92 84

fax: 72 74 49 85

e-mail:  100616.3455@compuserve.com





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

ITALY



An  Atari  dealer  from  Italy  has  just contacted us. More

information in next issue or

upon request.







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

HELP CORNER



This  part  of  Portfolio  News  is  designed  to bring your

questions, troubles and worries to the public.



If you have any suggestions that  may help send your help to

the person asking for help and send also a copy to Portfolio

News. All PF users may benefit from it.



Let us start:

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



You might be able to help me with a problem.



I recently bought the serial link which came with a card (Slave+ ver 2.5)

and software for my PC (Master PC ver 1.0) but I am having trouble with them.



I know that I have things configured properly because the PC lists the

directory of the Portfolio upon starting the software.  But when I attempt

to transfer a file from the Portfolio to the PC the program eventually times

out with a message that the Portfolio is not responding.  Then I find a zero

length file on my PC so at least I know an attempt was made and that the

connection is good.



Any ideas what would cause this program to lock up when attempting to

transfer files.  I am finding it very frustrating not being able to download

the interesting software I have found for the Portfolio.  I also need a way

to back up the data I have on the Portfolio.



Take care...



Darrell Burkey                                  +61 6 295 6820 (work)

dburkey@pcug.org.au                       041 110 6172  (mobile)

Try "http://www.pcug.org.au/~dburkey"



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



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

SOFTWARE PACKET No 2



This issue of Portfolio news comes with a packet of software for Portfolio. Here is a list:





ACOM.EXE        a communication program for serial interface

ACOM.DOC        text to the file



60COLS.EXE      60*10 characters on PF screen  a demo by Dave Steward

60COLS.DOC      text to the file

CHARDATA.DAT    character set for 60COLS.EXE



PSHELL          simple shell commander for COM and EXE files on Portfolio





How to get the files:



1. Save the e-mail message into  a file. In ELM mailer press

s) option and  enter a name of the file.  I think it is good

to name the file SOFT2.



2. Then  quit your e-mail program.  You will be at  the unix

prompt.



3. Use the  UUDECODE command to convert the  SOFT2 mail file

into data file.



Enter following:



UUDECODE SOFT2



The result should be a file "soft2.arj"  26898 bytes long.



(Be  careful about  small and  capital letters  - unix makes

difference between them)



4. The  "soft2.arj" is a  normal ARJ file.  You must tranmit

this  file  from  your  unix  directory  to  the local (DOS)

directory. You fill use the FTP programme.



5. The soft2.arj can be extracted by arj.exe file.



6. Here is the result:



60COLS   EXE         9,419 04-27-91   3:36a

60COLS   DOC         1,805 04-27-91   3:39a

CHARDATA DAT           168 04-27-91   1:51a

ACOM     DOC        13,177 08-21-91  10:37a

ACOM     EXE         9,955 08-21-91  10:37a

PSHELL   EXE         1,563 09-09-91  10:25p



7. If you have any  problems ask your internet supervisor or

send e-mail to our club.





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

SERIAL COMMUNICATION - ACOM

Finally a serial software that works



I have come across a  few programs for serial communication.

The only that worked is the ACOM.EXE



More info about the program (the complete documentation is 

in the ACOM.DOC file)



     ACOM is a communications program written for the Atari

Portfolio.  However, it will run on IBM PC compatibles as well.

Its purpose is to provide enhanced terminal emulation and file

transferring capabilities for the Portfolio.  It can copy the

conents of a 128k ramcard from the Portfolio to a PC in a minute

and a half.  ACOM requires approximately 32k of memory for all code and

buffers.



     ACOM can be used as a terminal emulation program, as a file

transfer program, and as a host control program.  It is able to

determine whether it is running on a Portfolio or a PC, and setup

its interrupt handling accordingly.



Regarding the speed of the Portfolio com port, it seems that

38400 baud may be the highest feasible transfer speed.  This is

about the point that other factors influence the transfer rate

more than the raw communications port speed.  This speed also

works satisfactorily on most other PC's I have tested.



     A fair amount of time and money has been spent developing

this program.  If ACOM proves useful, your comments and bug

reports will be appreciated.  Should you wish to compensate the

author, get on our mailing list, and receive the latest copy of

ACOM, please specify your disk size and send $25 to



     Roudley Associates, Inc.

     PO Box 608

     Owings Mills, MD    21117



If you use the program, and do not wish to compensate the author,

please be generous to those in need and increase your donation to

your favorite charity or church.



Charles Cook



71370,1025



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

Portfolio Products available from Portfolio Club



So it is possible now to get all the things we have for PF



Here is the list:



CODE       description          price in CZC            note

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

HPC 010    new PF 128k RAM              5800

HPC 011    new PF 512k RAM              8200

HPC 102    Atari serial interface       1900

HPC 202    Atari 64k RAM card           1900

HPC 104    256k Memory expansion+       2900

HPC 301    PC card reader               2800



HPD 300    parallel interface           1400

HPD 400    128KB RAM card               2300

HPD 500    FDD unit 1,44 MB             5800

         + 25pin par. interface

         + 32 KB RAM card with software

HPD 600    PortWalk tape recorder        700

         interface

HPD 103    Leather case for PF           500

HPD 200    Portfolio Tech. Guide         400

         120pgs, English + diskette

HPD 203    Portfolio Programmier Praxis  400

         345pgs, German + diskette

HPD 700    Upgrade your RAM to 512 KB   3500

HPD 801    60 pin PF BUS connector       300

HPD 803    hardware adaptation for       700

         permanent NiCd usage





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

How to order the products



1. Decide what you want to get. It seems better to find

some PF friends and share the expenditures on charges

for sending the stuff.



2. Send us your "order"



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

      by fax  to      + 42 2 29 51 86



3. We will contact you back, telling if the products are

   currently available and stating the total price in CZ.

   (total price + shipping charges).

   Current rate:  1 USD makes  25.30 - 26.30  CZ crowns



4. Send the money in USD or DEM to our bank account



   account no. 770252-028/0800

   at Ceska Sporitelna Praha 2



5. After receiving a note from bank, we will send the ordered

   things directly to you.





Note: The HPD 700 is internal upgrade of your Portfolio RAM.

You must  send your Portfolio  to us. The  replacement takes

5 days.



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

MORE INFO ON THE 1 MB RAM CARDS



For the technical specifications, I will quote from the booklet supplied

with the RAM card itself.  "The FMAP 1 fits in the Atari Portfolio memory

card slot like 128K RAM card and has 8 ti;mes the file storage capacity.

The memory is organized in 64K blocks.  It offers over 10 year data

retention without any batteries or any other power source.  Data bits are

retained as static charges on electrodes encased in nearly perfect

insulator.  This is essentially the same mechanism as that used in EPROM.

Unlike EPROM, flash memory can be erased (flashed) and rewritten while still

plugged into the Portfolio.  The flash memory card data is also safe from

magnetic fields that can corrupt data in ordinary magnetic storage media.

The cards add only baout 3% to the load on the Portfolio's batteries when it

is turned on and no load when the Portfolio is turned off.  The card can

safely be left inserted continuously."



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



THE 1.44 MB FDD UNIT for Portfolio



In 1993  one Portfolio fan  succeeded in connecting  a 5.25"

unit (360 KB) to Portfolio. Later the connection to 3.5" FDD

unit  (1.44 MB)  was realized.  The purpose  of this  was to

replace  the  expansive  RAM  cards  by  a cheap device with

multi-fold storing  capacity. The cost of  the unit is lower

than the price of two Atari RAM 128 KB Cards.



In the end a special 3.5" FDD unit for ultra light notebooks

has  been utilized.  This unit  also solves  the problem  of

power  supply.  The  ordinary  FDD  units  require  12 Volts

supplies. The ultra  light FDD made by TEAC  requires only 5

Volts and is only 12.5 mm high.



The idea was  to create a device smaller  than the Portfolio

itself  and the  idea was  realized. The  circuits has  been

place under  the FDD drive so  that the total height  do not

exceed  20 mm.  There is  no comparable  device in the world

market.



The unit also includes a parallel interface fully compatible

with the  Portfolio interface. This means  that the internal

applications  and  file  transfer  software  can communicate

through the  interface without any  difference. The built-in

interface is  fully "transparent" - this  means that you can

read from the  diskette and at the same  time print the data

through the parallel interface.



The FDD unit  is able to read and  write 3.5" diskettes both

of the 1.44  MB and 720 KB capacity. The  IBM PC standard is

fully supported.



Another important  part of the  unit is the  software driver

that  installs the  FDD as  another drive  of your Portfolio

(Unless other drives already  installed, the FDD will appear

to  be the  drive D:).  The driver  is a  3 KB long resident

program that  is loaded via  CONFIG.SYS command DEVICE.  You

can use the  new drive (D:) as any other  drive you are used

to.



The greatest problem to solve  was the power supply. The FDD

unit requires  at least 5  Volts and Portfolio  can give 4.5

V at  its  maximum.  (If  NiCds  are  used  only 3.6 V). The

problem was also increased by the fact that the motor of the

FDD needs  600 mAh at its  start and this power  "shock" may

destroy some Portfolio circuits.



The solution  was found in  an additional NiCd  battery pack

(7V, 750 mAh)  that is connected into the  FDD unit from the

back  side. If  fully charged,  Portfolio can  work with the

unit  for  4  to  5  hours.  The  battery  pack  is  charged

automatically if  original Atari AC adapter  is connected to

Portfolio.  The original  Atari adapter  must be  used as it

gives  the accurate  voltage for  recharging the  NiCd pack.

(The universal AC adapters are  usually weak and if they are

connected  to the  750 mAh  pack their  output vo ltage goes

down.)



Other unique qualities of the FDD unit



* Cash utility



If you install the driver by  means of the DEVICE command in

CONFIG.SYS  the  driver  creates  a  CASH  memory  area that

buffers data. It is necessary to make the unit work.



The reason  is following: Portfolio  has a bit  simpler BIOS

than  PC.  And  it  is  not  designed  to  work  with  large

quantities of data. If Portfolio reads from a disk device it

reads always  one sector only. And  if two following sectors

are to  be read from the  diskette, the BIOS has  no time to

work with  the data. This causes  big delays. (The diskettes

rotates 6  times a second  and thus reading  18 sectors (one

track, that is 18*512 bytes) takes 3 seconds. So for example

to  read  43  KB  PBASIC  from  the  diskette  would take 15

seconds.



The  algorithm  of  the  cash  is  the  same used in Pentium

processor  : Write-Through  and Write-Back.  This enables to

read one track at once (9 or 18 sectors during one rotation)

and then  the BIOS reads the  data in its slow  way from the

cash.



The same problem is when writing  data back to the disk. The

cash  solves it  again. All  data are  written down into the

virtual sectors in the cash and when the output operation is

finished the data are written to the diskette at once.



* The Portfolio speed



The slow speed of the Portfolio allows only 720 KB diskettes

to be  processed. If standard  rutines are used  for reading

1.44  diskettes, every  third byte  is lost.  This has  been

solved  by a  special hardware  solution that  locks up  the

clock cycle of  CPU bus and thanks to  a special rutine that

is two instructions shorter than the standard rutines.



* ROM error



Yet  another  problem  remained.  There  is  some  error  in

Portfolio BIOS that causes the failure of MkDir (INT 21H, Fn

39H)  function with  3.5" 720  KB diskettes.  If you use the

MkDir command with 720 KB diskette Portfolio will crash. The

data on diskette are lost and FAT is damaged.



Even this problem has been  solved and the driver also takes

care of the MkDir function and  if the user attempts to make

a new directory the driver replaces the bad rutine in ROM by

its code.



About the designer of the FDD



The FDD  is a result of  one personP2s efforts. "I  spent the

whole  1993 on  the FDD  development", says  Tomas Dusek the

father of the  unit. "I think it was  worth while. I learned

the very details of PC BIOS and I made something that nobody

else has made. After  the PortWalk (tape recorder interface)

it was  my second peripheral for  Portfolio. The crazy thing

is that I developed the unit  in my free time, ....., and it

was mainly sponsored by money from  my full time job. At day

I worked in one computer comp any, in the evenings I used to

solder. When I  started to produce more units  I had to make

the  business legal  - I  had registered  a private  company

"Sunny-Soft". It is not a big company - in fact just me. But

it works."





BUY THE FDD UNIT NOW



The 1.44 MB FDD unit and more at the price of just two Atari

128 KB RAM Cards!!!

The  FDD  units  opens  the  data  world  to  you  and  your

Portfolio. Now you can read the data from diskettes directly

without any  cable and file transfer  software. You can save

the results of  your work on the diskettes  and work with it

in your desktop PC in almost no time.



SPECIAL OFFER:



1.44 MB FolioDrive FDD UNIT

25 pin parallel interface on board

7 Volts NiCd battery pack

+ parallel cable

+ software on diskette included

!!! + 32 KB RAM CARD with installed driver



This all just for 5800 CZC.  Where else in the world can you

get so much for your money?





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

* What we are looking for:



- any PF fans that want to join us



- any PF users who are able to develop new soft



- information about: Re:Port, Portfolio Connection Newsletter, etc.



- any kind of emotional, mental and other support



- any dealer that is willing to go on with

  PF stuff and wants to sell our products



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

This issue of Portfolio News was published on May 15, 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

Tomas Dusek             - Go on developing the hardware!

Martin & Milan Hrdlicka - the authors of new graphic BIOS

Dave Steward    - Re:Port is the only that has survived, and that is

                         your work, thank you



and to other PF friends who support us

