Q. In a previous column you mentioned a book called Exploring the IBM PCjr by Peter Norton. Can you give more information such as publisher, etc.? Question asked by several jr users. A. We are always pleased when people ask about books, so here is a selected list: These should be available by ordering through your local book-seller. Write to the publishers for catalogues of others. Exploring the IBM PCjr Home Computer, Peter Norton Microsoft Preasss ISBN # 0-914845-02-0 Discovering the IBM PCjr Home Computer, Peter Norton Microsoft Press ISBN # 0-914845-01-2 The New jr: A Guide to IBM’s PCjr, Winn L. Rosch Bantam Computer Books ISBN # 0-553-34161-8 IBM PCjr User’s Guide, Illowsky & Abrash Howard W. Sams & Co. ISBN # 0-672-22302-3 The Peter Norton Programmer’s Guide to the IBM PC. (Mostly Assembler and Machine Language, but has excellent PCjr coverage!) Microsoft Press ISBN # 0-914845-46-2 Compute! Publications, Greensboro, N. Carolina, has a series of books as follows: Compute!’s IBM & Compatibles BASIC Program Selection Compute!’s First Book of IBM (lots of programs, most in BASIC) Compute!’s Second Book of IBM (slightly more sophisticated) Compute!’s Beginner’s Guide to Machine Language on the IBM PC & PCjr. Compute!’s Mapping the IBM PC and PCjr If there is enough interest we might do mini-reviews of selected books for our PCjr readers. Q. Can the 5.25" floppy drive in my jr be replaced with a 3.5" drive? Will I need more power if I have 640k via upgraded (512k) sidecar and a parallel printer port? T. Candy, Kearney NE A. You can replace the floppy drive quite simply. Some of the companies advertising in our Newsletter have conversion kits, complete with chassis, face plates and/or controller cards to fit right in. They also include software to access the format(s) of the 3.5" disks for whatever version of DOS you are using. You will need no additional power as the 3.5" drives actually use LESS power to operate as does the 512k upgrade of the sidecar. Q. Some of the simplest things are assumed to already be known by the writers of certain manuals. I am trying to print out a simple total in the included program but can’s seem to get the hang of it. Can you help me? S. L. White, LaGrange GA Here is an edited part of the program as submitted: 220 FOR X = 1 to 3 230 READ A, B$, N 240 PRINT A, B$, N 245 NEXT X 250 LET H = 0 255 LET H = H + N 330 PRINT "Total Cost..... =$",H: END 1000 DATA 1, DSW, 5 1010 DATA 2, BD, 10 1020 DATA 3, NBG, 15 The reason the total (H) always prints 15 is because the addition of H to N is only done AFTER the FOR-NEXT loop has finished, and though N changes while inside the loop ONLY the last value is retained when the loop finishes. Two thing should be changed: First, put the "initializing" of H = 0 outside and before the entry into the loop. Delete line 250 and write a new line to be executed before the loop like this; 219 H = 0 (You do not need the LET part of the statement, nor should you use it, it slows down interpreted BASIC!) Second you must have the "totalling" done INSIDE the loop, so insert the line: 242 H = H + N (Be sure to delete line 255. This will cause N to be added to H EACH time through the loop.) FOR-NEXT loops for beginners are both a challenge and a pleasure, so let me expand on this. For program size and speed, use X% instead of just X. This makes the "loop counter" an integer instead of a floating-point decimal. Integers are manipulated more quickly by the 8088 and integers take up less memory. In your line 245 you should also remove the X of NEXT X. The BASIC interpreter will determine the X automatically and by itself instead of using up time to read it, assign it and use it! To make a little test of these loop techniques, run the following: 10 CLS 20 T = TIMER REM (TIMER is a built-in BASIC statement) 30 FOR X = 1 TO 5000 40 NEXT 50 PRINT TIMER - T; "First loop, time consumed." 60 T = TIMER REM (We do it again, with integer X%) 70 FOR X% = 1 TO 5000 REM (Note X% in here..) 80 NEXT 90 PRINT TIMER - T; "Second loop, time consumed." 100 END The second loop runs almost 20% quicker than the first! Try changing to 40 NEXT X in the first loop and note the time. One more point: If you periodically type RENUM when programming, you will always have 10 steps between lines and the program will begin with line 10. This gets rid of the annoying line numbers such as 255 or 245 as you squeeze lines in as an afterthought. (RESTORE nn, GOSUB nn , GOTO nn, etc. will all be taken care of automatically.) Also, if you type AUTO before starting to program, BASIC will advance and print line numbers for you in steps of 10 each time you press ENTER at the end of each line. To get out of AUTO just type Fn-Break. See the BASIC manual for more on these conveniences. Q. I have a jr with 640k and two drives. When using Procomm 2.4.2 or 2.4 the program downloads files fine, but always aborts when uploading. Is there a patch for this problem? L. Novell, Endwell NY A. No patch is necessary. Procomm is one of the most trouble-free programs to run on the jr. except for HOST mode. First, even though Procomm will run with Terminate-and-Stay-Resident programs, some are not compatible. Clean them out of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and try again. If you make a RAMDISK for the file(s) to upload/download and change the default upload/download to C: the timing is improved and the COM: buffer can handle the transfer in both directions better. Also, be sure that the COM Parameters are set the same as the connected-to service or BBS. Procomm automatically switches to the proper parameters for XMODEM for example, but check how you set it up. Don’t use any Translate characters except the Procomm defaults for the Enter, LF, and CR. By the way, your CONFIG.SYS must have FILES=20 and BUFFERS=20! A different approach shown below, uses the B: drive for files to upload/download and still tests out fine on 512k systems: This is called "GO.BAT" and is used after booting without any TSRs. Press the Enter key where you see and don’t type what’s in parentheses. You should have the programs COMSWAP and COMREST on the same drive. COPY CON: A:GO.BAT (Copy from Console and name it) COMSWAP (Use COM:2 in Procomm) RAMDISK 200 (or use SETRAM nn or your favorite RAMdisk) ECHO OFF CLS ECHO ..Turn the modem on and PAUSE ECHO ...Now loading Procomm, one moment, please... COPY A:PROCOMM.* C: >NUL COPY A:MACROS.* C: >NUL (To access the macros if you use any.) C: PROCOMM A: COMREST (Restore COM:1 port) (Optional last command for GO.BAT:) RAMDISK OFF Now press Fn-6 to write it to disk. If a parameter or phone directory change is made, and/or you want PROCOMM.LOG .HST .DIR .PRM etc. don’t turn off the ramdisk until you have copied the changed PROCOMM files from C: to A: !!) Q. When I boot with DOS 2.1 with my Impulse add-on board the clock/calendar comes on fine but with DOS 3.2 it is on default mode. Would disk #28 help? H. Seto, S. Jersey NJ A. For clocks which are installed in the standard way, there is no difference in the way DOS 2.1 and DOS 3.2 read them. If software is supplied for a particular clock or board/clock combination, then the software to initialize and set the clock must be used and the software to read or set the clock must be in both versions of DOS. Remember, different DOS versions use memory and addresses differently. Normally, the DOS command TIME reads the clock, whether it is battery powered or not and DATE does the same. Is there some special file supplied by Impulse which is in your DOS 2.1 and which you haven’t put in your DOS 3.2? Look in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of DOS 2.1. Q. I have been thinking of upgrading to an AT 286 system and wonder if my jr’s monitor can be used as it will save me some expense. I have talked to three different companies about this possibility and have three different answers. One says "No problem," two says "If you purchase a device for about $25.00 it will work," and the third says "It won’t work and there is no fix." Can you please give me a straight answer? H. M. Winter, Canaan NH A. A straight answer? Sure...all three are right. Details make all the difference. The jr’s monitor is a standard CGA RGBI monitor. The cable is made to plug into the jr only. The $25.00 "device" (a little high?) referred to must be the adapter cable (available by mail-order from some of our advertisers) which allows the monitor to plug into the rest of the IBM family of computers except the PS/2 line. That takes care of companies one and two above... Company three is probably thinking that the AT will be (as most are) used with a Monochrome "CGA", a VGA, EGA or Hercules Enhanced Graphics card, in which case, the jr monitor "won’t work and there is no fix." The jr monitor is a CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) RGBI (Red Green Blue Intensity) standard monitor. VGA cards require Analogue, not Intensity input, and though they may sound like the same thing, they aren’t. Also, the vertical sweep of the VGA, EGA and Hercules cards puts more horizontal lines on the tube than the CGA cards, and that is what the jr monitor doesn’t handle well. Monochrome-only "CGA" cards do the same thing; too many lines. We hope that helps.