To contact the author:
Peter Shkabara
2416 Kris Circle
Silver City, NM 88061-7113
505 388-8977
Internet: peter@wnmu.edu
The Move
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If you look at the author block below, you will note a new address for me. Once again we moved. This time, the town was great, but my job at LVTI came with some unexpected pressures. Administration was not pleased with me asking questions such as "why is there no faculty senate here?"
I let my principles get ahead of my personal gain and chose to move on. It is not pleasant working in an environment where you are not appreciated for your contributions.
Monitors
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The MAG monitor finally got sent to the service center for repair. I had replaced the defective horizontal driver transistor, but there was no horizontal drive coming to it. I traced the circuit back a ways and found several other transistors which might be bad. They all were hard to find parts also.
For a fee of $125, MAG Innovations quickly repaired the monitor and sent it back. I talked with a technician after the repair was done to find out what parts were replaced. There was only one more transistor defective upstream from the horizontal driver. With a service manual it should have been easy to find, but MAG does not sell such manuals and therein is the story.
Irene (my wife) now has the MAG 15 inch monitor and is quite happy with it. Not that I was not happy with it, but it has had more failures than one would expect.
The more I get to work with other 17 inch monitors, the more I appreciate my choice of the Sony 17se. Yes, there is still the convergence problem in the upper right hand corner. And yes, Sony did say that they would fix it under warranty if I just send it in to their service center. Trouble is, I don't want to give it up for the duration of the repair! Perhaps I will send it in, but I am in no hurry to do so just now.
Networking
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Some thanks go to Jim Odom and Max Baca at Highlands University. After hearing of my network card causing memory parity error problems, they both suggested that I swap the RAM SIMMs around. Max said that it is not uncommon to have some problem memory that does not normally get used, but is poked at by the network cards.
In checking the RAM, I discovered that the parts were actually 100 ns speed. My assumption was that they were faster than that, but 100 ns is what the computer motherboard calls for and they had been in there for some time. Interesting how you can get used to expecting faster parts as time goes by.
I swapped the SIMMs around and tried the network again. Viola! A whole day goes by without a parity error. Celebration seemed to be in order. Another day without an error. So far so good. At the end of the week I was ready to write a success story to this adventure. Then it happened. Parity error!
Conclusion is that indeed the RAM is somehow at fault. Why the network card causes the problem to come up, I don't quite understand. However, the error is very intermittent. It only shows up once a week or so. I will try to move the SIMMs around once again, but I am not planning to replace the RAM with faster parts. Mylex, the manufacturer of the motherboard, specifies that 100 ns and not faster parts should be used. I also plan to get a Pentium computer for myself and give mine to Irene. That last switch will make fixing the parity problem a moot point. I might end up swapping RAM at some point just to settle the issue, but it is not high on the list of things to do.
Ergonomic Keyboard
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By now you may have seen the announcement of the Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. It is the one I mentioned in my last issue. Apparently, I am one of a few beta test sites for this nice keyboard.
It took a while to get accustomed to it, but with a few minor modifications, it works very well. My palms get very sensitive with prolonged pressure at a keyboard. On my old keyboard, I had put some neoprene rubber cushioning on the wrist rest part of the keyboard drawer. The Microsoft keyboard has a built-in wrist support, and it would not fit into my keyboard drawer. I put the new keyboard on the top of my desk and attached some Dr. Scholl's shoe cushions on top of the wrist support. Although this particular material has foam rubber that tends to crumble, it does offer relief for my palms.
I also found that the keyboard would slide around a bit. The same thing would happen with the old keyboard, but it was held in by the drawer. Three little rubber feet at the front of the new keyboard solved the sliding problem.
Overall, this is a very nice option for a keyboard. It is designed for optimal use with Microsoft Windows. Since I run NT all the time, it fits in just fine. The software that comes with it allows the use of the numeric keypad to control the screen cursor instead of using the mouse. I find the mouse more convenient, but when my mouse was disconnected, it made easy operation of Windows still possible.
Summer Work at Intel
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My job at Intel has come to a close. It was a great experience to see the workings of an industry giant from the inside. All those Pentium wafers going by! Trouble was that even as an Intel employee, I could not get my hands on one. Intel is selling all they can make and will not offer the employees a special offer till some time this Fall. Perhaps if I got to stay with them a bit longer!
I go to put together a 50 MHz 486 computer as part of my assignment. I don't mean a DX2, but a real, live full speed 50 MHz machine. Too bad it was not a Pentium, but what the heck. The installation used a Borland Paradox for Windows database application. I got to write some changes in Paradox. We were using version 4, but now version 5 is out. I started the request for upgrade, but my contract ended before I was done.
There is a possibility that Intel may be hiring me on a permanent part- time basis, but so far I have not heard from them on the proposal. It is a 245 mile drive from Silver City to Intel in Rio Rancho, but I stay in a motel there and work 12 - 14 hour days while there. It is not the best of situations, but not all that bad either.
Money Counts
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Last time I told you about my participation in Parsons Technology beta program for Money Counts 8. This is nice personal finance program very reminiscent of Microsoft Money.
Because of our moving this summer, I did not get to work with it as much as I should have. There were problems transferring MS Money data to Money Counts. Under NT, Money Counts refused to import the old data. I ended up having to go to DOS/Windows to make the conversion.
The news now is that Chip Soft (Quicken) is buying Parsons Technology. I don't know what that will do to the Money Counts program. Quicken for Windows is a disaster, in my opinion. My wife does the bookkeeping in our household, and she told me in short order to get Quicken for Windows off of her computer when I tried to set it up for her. She used Quicken for DOS, and I got her to switch to MS Money. But Quicken for Windows version 3 was not acceptable.
Money Counts would have probably been ok for Irene, but there were few advantages of it over MS Money. Also, MS Money has some features that Money Counts lacks. Overall, either program should be fine for most Windows users. I can easily recommend either one over Quicken. With the new acquisition, I hope that Money Counts has a good influence on Quicken, rather than the other way around.
Sound Board
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I sold my Logitech Soundman 16 sound board. It just would not work well with Windows NT, and Logitech had no intention of supporting it. After some delay, I received the Microsoft Sound System. The MS Sound System arrived at about the same time as the announcement that Microsoft would no longer manufacture it! How is that for timing?
To continue on the announcement, Microsoft intends to supply only software. The main support will be for the Sound Blaster board. Since device drivers are the key to proper operation, be sure that drivers are available for your system before getting a "compatible" board. The Logitech was supposed to be a Media Vision compatible, but it sure did not work out under NT.
Discontinued or not, the MS sound board works just fine. Not only do the drivers work as they should, there is no annoying crackle and pop from the speakers as there was with the Logitech unit. The only "problem" that I have run into is the lack of an internal connection to tie in the CD-ROM as a sound player. With the MS system, you need to plug a cable the CD-ROM drive to a jack on the back of the MS board. I might just solder on an internal connection, but it would have been nice to have one there already.
Oh, yes. I almost forgot that the Logitech sound board prevented me from using the network card. Since I was having a problem with the network card in the other computer, it was a moot point. Now that the network is mostly working, it was good to find that the MS sound board and the network card work just fine together.
Daytona & Chicago
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No, I am not planning another relocation soon. What I am planning to do is to upgrade to Windows NT 3.5 as soon as it comes out. Since I did not get to be in the beta program, I can only read about the very favorable reports and drool.
I did get an e-mail notification to register for Chicago beta. When I registered, I got e-mail that told me there were so many applicants that I might not be part of it. That was the same situation a few months ago, so why did I get the personal e-mail? Perhaps I am being considered for the final beta which will soon (hopefully) be available.
UPS
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No, I am not going to talk about how to ship a box. Living in New Mexico, one quickly becomes familiar with great displays of lightning. Seems that New Mexico and the Gulf states compete for the sky shows the thunderstorms put on.
While the light show may be interesting to watch, I worry about the security of my computer. About six years ago, I decided that my data was important enough to do something about it. At first, the UPS was a fairly expensive investment. The situation is much easier on the pocketbook today.
Some time back, I had purchased a Upsonic PCMight UPS for the computer which my wife now uses. It was only a 250 VA unit, but was satisfactory for that computer and monitor. Its sale price was only $135, so I could hardly refuse. That was three years ago.
While the Upsonic unit was nice, my new computer with 17 inch monitor poses quite a bit more of a load. This time, I needed a 450 VA UPS. While the Upsonic line does include such a unit, I decided an APC (American Power Conversion) 450 VA model. The price of about $170 was attractive for this size model, and it also has a power switch on the front. Since I use the UPS power switch to turn the computer on and off, the front location was more convenient than the rear location as on the Upsonic models.
In my search for the UPS, I found many touted features of other supplies that were "must have" items according to the salesmen. Of course, the extra features would increase the price. One unit had a 5 year warranty and was supposedly of great construction. Problem was that it cost over $600!
I finally called the APC factory and asked to speak with technical support. These are the people who know the products better than the marketing types. APC was good enough to connect me without any trouble. I quickly got the information I was seeking, and the standard 450 VA UPS would work for me just fine. That call may have saved me $430.
We have already experienced a power failure where the new UPS allowed me not to notice the loss of power till my wife told me. I guess it already justified its existence. Seems to be a low cost insurance policy, not to mention the convenience of being able to finish your work without interruption.
CP/M
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Sad news for old time microcomputer users. I was reading PC Week when I saw the announcement that Gary Kildall had died. It was just a small announcement. Somehow, it did not seem fitting that the passing of the father of CP/M should not have carried more of an impact. In a later issue, I did see a whole column by Jim Seymour expressing just such a view. Many users today don't even know what CP/M was.
I finally gave up in my CP/M accessibility exercise. If you recall from my previous newsletter, I could not get the old emulation software to run under newer versions of DOS. Henry Fale (publisher of H-Scoop) said the solution is simple, boot an old version of DOS. Not so fast Henry. While the old version of MS-DOS may indeed allow the emulation software to run, it will not recognize my gigabyte hard disk partition! I am not about to start repartitioning my hard disk just to get to CP/M.
My original Heath H89 computer is still with me. It is not in its glory days' state. It no longer has a CDR RAM disk, nor does it have a hard disk. There is still the old H17 hard sector and the H37 soft sector controller in it, and it has a 5 ¼ and 3 ½ inch disk drive. The 5 ¼ drive is only 40 track double sided though, so I have problems getting to my 80 track disks. Perhaps I will install another drive in it and solve my CP/M access problem.
Shareware
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Last time, I mentioned a product named ICONBAR. I had some problems with this NT shareware product. Not that ICONBAR itself caused problems, but it did not launch some applications properly. For some reason, the Microsoft launcher bar that comes with Microsoft office 4 had the same problem. Of course, the Microsoft item is only 16 bit software.
I found a similar product named RipBAR version 6 by Jonathan Carroll. The asking price is $25 and it comes in 16 bit or 32 bit versions. It has features beyond what ICONBAR has, but it also lacks the very clean button look of ICONBAR. RipBAR does handle program launch perfectly and it allows for a single click of a button to start an application. I like that. RipBAR is available for NT or for Windows 3.1. It can be found as RIBNT60.ZIP in the CICA library for NT on Internet and as RIPB32.ZIP on CompuServe. The 16 bit version is RIPB16.ZIP on CompuServe.
Comments
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That is about all for my experiences for now. The move necessitated a lot of work in fixing up the "more fixer than upper" house that we bought in Silver City. Not as much time to play with the computer till now.
I am watching the various announcements about the new, faster Alpha chip from DEC and the PowerPCs from Motorola and IBM. Apple is up there in front with their promotions of the Power MAC. I have to agree with Jesse Berst (of PC Week) in his opinion that Apple computer company may not be around much longer.
Apple is trying to undo years of neglect of the support market. Being a monopoly can only go on for so long. Concentrating on suing others instead of continuing development of fresh ideas has finally come to hurt them. May Apple fans may feel different, but I believe that the end of the Mac era is coming.