Conference hydra::amiga_v1

     Seems like a good place for a TRANSFORMER question...
     Does anyone print directly from MSDOS running under/over/with/whatever
     TRANSFORMER.  That is, can I access the serial port and LA50?
     Or do I have to copy files with the PC utilities and print from
     the Amiga?
     
     I am using MSDOS 3.2 if that matters, and I am mostly MSDOS-ignorant,
     if that helps/hinders answers. ;-)
     
     Thanks,
     Dave
     

    When I run Transformer, my modem (connected to the serial port)
    and my LQ850 (connected to the parallel) port function just as though
    I were running from AmigaDOS. Procomm + works fine, etc.

      Well I have been trying to get the DEC LA50 to work from
      Transformer without much luck. When I attempt to print (copy prn:)
      I get a "not ready" error and must type a to abort the print 
      attempt. When I use the MSDOS print command the drive just whirs
      away until I reboot. 
      
      I am still mostly MSDOS ignorant, but I did find the MODE command
      which purportedly must be used to direct a printer to the serial
      port. If I recall correctly the syntax was something like 
       A:\>   mode lpt1: com1:

      I also tried to set up the serial port parameters using this command 
      with no success.

      Am I on the right track with this kind of thing? Or should the 
      Transformer just pass along my preferences setup which says
      my printer is on the serial port set at 4800 baud, blah, blah, blah?
      I am trying all this with a nearly-stock WorkBench 1.2, and I have tried
      generic and LA50 print drivers. I also tried the PSTRANSFORMER 
      "patch" which brought on the guru instead of MSDOS. 
 
      So far I am incouraged that trying to print produces an error instead of
      of a dramatic crash. 

      Thanks for any help
      Dave

    re: .3
    there is more than one patch.  The guy who did the original
    patch came out with a more recent version.  I suspect you won't
    be able to get it to work with the original Transformer.  You
    need to get a non-guruing version of the patch.
    
    Preferences only affects AmigaDOS, the AT_prefs affects the
    Transformer.
    
    I'd recommend looking in the NAC::IBMPC notesfile for war stories
    on hooking up LA50s to real ibmpcs.
    
    -Dave

     Well, I read the doc with the the pstransformer patch again and I think
     it implies the new patch supercedes the old one. I was using it with
     a version that was already patched once to work with WB 1.2.
     So its back to the drawing board.

     Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to check out more of the PC file
     for details on the printer. 

     Dave

    try note 2628.* of NAC::IBMPC, it has pointers to other notes
    and talks about the Xon/Xoff that LA50s like.
    
    -dave

    Hi,
    
    am I right in thinking I should be able to boot Transformer from a
    720K 3 1/2 floppy ?
    
    Regards
    	Mike

     re: .7    Yep you can use a 3 1/2.  Actually Transformer is a program
     that you click on to start.  Then you "boot" from a 3 1/2 MS-DOS
     disk.
     Dave

    Hmm,
    
    I got a copy of Transformer of the net ages ago. I only managed to get
    a copy of MS-DOG on a 720K floppy the other day. My initial test was
    using the standard Transformer program to start the boot process. When
    the Transformer "boot" screen came up and I hit return to boot, the
    drive wasn't being accessed. I then remebered there was a patch
    floating around to make it work on A500s etc. So last night I loaded
    down PSTRANSFORMER and tried again. This time after pressing return it
    went to DF0: but wouldn't boot (yes the floppy was in the drive).
    
    So I checked the floppy with CrossDOS (which could read it, amazing
    stuff !). This morning I also had it checked to make sure it is
    bootable on the system it came from. The floppy came from a Toshiba
    laptop and has MS-DOS 3.3.
    
    Any suggestions on why it wont boot ? Am I doing something wrong, or
    have I just got an imcompatible BIOS or something...
    
    Thanks
    	Mike

    
    I've been able to use Transformer (after applying the PSTransformer
    patch) on my rev 4.3 B2000 using Dos 2.11 from a Data General One
    laptop.  Works fine, albeit slow.  Actually, I never use it any more; I
    mostly used it back in the Dark Ages of 1985 when there was no Amiga
    software.  I had all the Infocom text adventures in MS-Dos format
    running on my vintage A1000.
    
    I believe some of the early B2000s used a Cherry brand keyboard that
    had some timing problems that made Transformer unusable.   There is a
    fix to this keyboard involving a few capacitor snips...
    
    Sorry I can't be of more help...  
    
    

    Hi Ed,
    
    up late again ?
    
    My main concern was that maybe I needed a 360K 3�" drive to boot from.
    But that sounds like rubbish. I'll have another go tonight, and if no
    luck I'll see if I can source a different version of MS-DOG.
    
    Regards
    	Mike

< Note 2096.11 by NOTIBM::MCGHIE "Thank Heaven for small Murphys !" >


    Hi Ed,
    
    up late again ?
    
    My main concern was that maybe I needed a 360K 3�" drive to boot from.
    But that sounds like rubbish. I'll have another go tonight, and if no
    luck I'll see if I can source a different version of MS-DOG.
    
    Regards
    	Mike

+++
Probably do need a 360K drive Mike. The Transformer thinks that A>
(DF0:) and B> (DF1:) are 360K IBM drives. Chances are it is having
trouble with your 720K format. You can format your disk on to 360K using
PCFormat. Then copy the necessary MS-DOS files to it.

Here's the "boot" process I use:

1. Start with a clean system, nothing other than the default workbench
   processes running.

2. Insert the Transformer disk. Select the setup prefs icon to make
   sure you have the system defined correctly. This is very important!

3. Next, select the Transformer icon. This is where things get tricky.
   One of two things will happen. Either the screen will blank and pop
   up with an IBM-like screen that requests you insert an MS-DOS disk,
   or it will go blank (probably blue) and just sit there.

   a)  If it requests a disk, insert your 360K MS-DOS disk and press
       return.

   b)  If it turns blue (blank), remove the Transformer disk, insert the 
       MS-DOS disk and do a three-finger pinch to perform a warm reboot.
       That will automatically boot MS-DOS.

NOTE:  Transformer will not run under 68020. You need to go into 68000
       mode on an A2000/2500 before selecting Transformer. 

    
    re -.1
�Probably do need a 360K drive Mike. The Transformer thinks that A>
�(DF0:) and B> (DF1:) are 360K IBM drives. Chances are it is having
�trouble with your 720K format. You can format your disk on to 360K using
�PCFormat. Then copy the necessary MS-DOS files to it.

    No you don't need a 360k MSDos disk to boot from. The only copy
    of MSDos I could get my hands on was on a 720k disk from an Olivetti
    PC, and transformer boots fine from it. If you ask transformer to
    format drive a: it will only format it to 360k, but it will read
    720k disks without problem.
    
    There is a way to get transformer to format to 720k too, it involves
    logical disks c: and d: by adding a couple of line to the autost.bat
    (can't remember what the lines are but I got them from this notesfile
    somewhere)
    
    					Alan T.

    No you don't need a 360k MSDos disk to boot from. The only copy
    of MSDos I could get my hands on was on a 720k disk from an Olivetti
    PC, and transformer boots fine from it. If you ask transformer to
    format drive a: it will only format it to 360k, but it will read
    720k disks without problem.

>> Well, my A2000 will not read all files on a 720K format disk. It
>> works just peachy on 360K disks.
    
    There is a way to get transformer to format to 720k too, it involves
    logical disks c: and d: by adding a couple of line to the autost.bat
    (can't remember what the lines are but I got them from this notesfile
    somewhere)

>> Hmmm .. yep, I got them stashed somewhere. I'll look'em up.    

    
�    There is a way to get transformer to format to 720k too, it involves
�    logical disks c: and d: by adding a couple of line to the autost.bat
�    (can't remember what the lines are but I got them from this notesfile
�    somewhere)

    I looked last night, add the two lines (I'm assuming you've got
    two floopies here) 
    device=driver.sys /d:0
    device=driver.sys /d:1
    to your config.sys file then you'll have (after a reboot) two more
    logical drives c: and d: which equate to a: and b:
    Then FORMAT a: will format to 360k and FORMAT c: will format to
    720k even though they're both really the same drive.
    
    				Alan T.

    Alan T. in .15 is right, but forgot to mention that those
    lines should be in A> Config.sys. Not in autoexec.bat
    
    I also had problem booting because I have only 1 meg memory on
    my B2000 and while seting up my transformer, If I used 640K memory
    it just wouldn't boot.  I had to set it to 512K to get it to work...
    (or perhaps less, I forgot)
    
    I boot 720K diskettes no problem, just make sure all the files
    required to boot are in the first 360K, just to be on the safe 
    side. i.e., command, autoexec, config, all dos programs used in
    autoexec etc...
    
    Vince.