Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX

[Willard Goosey]

On Fri, 2 Mar 2018 15:46:55 -0500
Anthony Coghlan  wrote:

(OK on a real keyboard now! :)

> Willard, thanks for the confirmation that it’s not something inherent
> to trying to use REX and BCR at the same time.  That would be sad,
> because I like my REX... 

I agree, REX is awesome! The BCR is... kind of a neat toy? But yes they
work fine together for me. I've got a RAM image named BCR with all the
goodies!

> I think I got the driver off Club 100 and
> transferred It with MComm.  I have the original cassette, too, but
> haven’t tried it.

I know the versions in the UPS directory work, are those the ones
you're using?

> Poke and reboot - could you tell me more, so I’ll get it right..?  :)
>  Thanks.  Otherwise, I’d just end up doing CALL 63012 a couple of
> times, perhaps not the desired / required steps.  Thanks again.

Ahh... After a crash and reboot, go into BASIC:
POKE 62975,201

then power cycle. This clears the timer hook REX uses.
Go into BASIC again and:
CALL 63012

this will bring up REXMGR.

(this is all in the REX wiki on bitchin100).

(wow I had to look this up, it's been a couple of months since I
crashed the M100! Takin' a little break from SmallC-85 to explore RISC
OS :)


Hope this helps,
Willard
-- 
Willard Goosey  goo...@sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
I search my heart and find Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.
  -- R.E. Howard

[M100] ftp.whtech.com

[Gregory McGill]

Don's upgrading so you need to use http://ftp.whtech.com/ for the time
being ftp isn't logging in right..

Greg

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX

[Fugu ME100]

It might be best to simply do a cold reboot  make sure there is nothing hanging 
around in memory to cause problems.Then start the REX and BCR drivers.

There are some applications that will not work with REX because of how it 
operates.

From: M100 
> 
on behalf of Anthony Coghlan >
Reply-To: >
Date: Friday, March 2, 2018 at 12:46 PM
To: "m...@bitchin100.com" 
>
Subject: Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX

Willard, thanks for the confirmation that it’s not something inherent to trying 
to use REX and BCR at the same time.  That would be sad, because I like my 
REX...  I think I got the driver off Club 100 and transferred It with MComm.  I 
have the original cassette, too, but haven’t tried it.

Poke and reboot - could you tell me more, so I’ll get it right..?  :)  Thanks.  
Otherwise, I’d just end up doing CALL 63012 a couple of times, perhaps not the 
desired / required steps.  Thanks again.

Best wishes,
Anthony





On Friday, March 2, 2018, Willard Goosey 
> wrote:
sorry losey on screen keyboard here..

BCR+REX work fine on my m100.

Sugest you reload the .CO files... known good versions are on club100

REX doesn't leave anything in ram the bcr drivers dont mess with rom.

when a rexed m100 crashes it is normal to boot up with the lasr rom selected, 
do the poke & reboot dance to get rexmgr back

willard


Sent from my Galaxy Tab® A

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX

[Anthony Coghlan]

Willard, thanks for the confirmation that it’s not something inherent to
trying to use REX and BCR at the same time.  That would be sad, because I
like my REX...  I think I got the driver off Club 100 and transferred It
with MComm.  I have the original cassette, too, but haven’t tried it.

Poke and reboot - could you tell me more, so I’ll get it right..?  :)
 Thanks.  Otherwise, I’d just end up doing CALL 63012 a couple of times,
perhaps not the desired / required steps.  Thanks again.

Best wishes,
Anthony





On Friday, March 2, 2018, Willard Goosey  wrote:

> sorry losey on screen keyboard here..
>
> BCR+REX work fine on my m100.
>
> Sugest you reload the .CO files... known good versions are on club100
>
> REX doesn't leave anything in ram the bcr drivers dont mess with rom.
>
> when a rexed m100 crashes it is normal to boot up with the lasr rom
> selected, do the poke & reboot dance to get rexmgr back
>
> willard
>
>
> Sent from my Galaxy Tab® A
>

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX

[Willard Goosey]

sorry losey on screen keyboard here..
BCR+REX work fine on my m100.
Sugest you reload the .CO files... known good versions are on club100
REX doesn't leave anything in ram the bcr drivers dont mess with rom.
when a rexed m100 crashes it is normal to boot up with the lasr rom selected, 
do the poke & reboot dance to get rexmgr back
willard

Sent from my Galaxy Tab® A
null

Re: [M100] Needing a tech

[megarat]

In this vein, is it possible to get a cap kit for the M100, or at least a 
shopping list?  This is the right age for the electrolytics to go bad on these 
things, and while the three M100s in my stable are working fine at the moment, 
I'd like to get ahead of any problems, or at least be prepared for them.

Of course, I can consult the service manual and assemble a list from there, but 
I was wondering if someone had already done the work.
Thanks,
/CAM

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX / M100 Digest, Vol 87, Issue 2

[Gregory McGill]

they are 29$ new on newegg

On Fri, Mar 2, 2018 at 4:49 AM, Anthony Coghlan  wrote:

> Thanks, Peter. I think I’m going to try the barcode reader you use if I
> can get it on eBay cheaply, as it may be more reliable anyway.  Perhaps I
> have to try loading the driver and program with REX temporarily disabled as
> an experiment.  I suspect a conflict in memory and don’t otherwise know how
> to resolve that.
>
> Best wishes,
> Anthony
>
>
>
> On Friday, March 2, 2018, Peter Noeth  wrote:
>
>> I don't have a REX in my M102, but I have been using the BCR to do
>> "pantry" and "wine cellar" inventory. Both are in the basement, so are not
>> readily accessible when one wants to know what is down there. I am not
>> using the Radio Shack wand, but instead am using a UniTech
>> MS120-NTCB00-SG "industrial strength" wand. It is "plug-in" compatible with
>> the RS wand, and has a sapphire tip that doesn't abrade the barcode labels
>> and keeps dust out of the wand. It also has better "dynamic range" so has
>> no problems reading low contrast barcodes or ines in color. I am using the
>> sample "Simple Inventory" program (with some modifications) that came with
>> the RS Barcode Reader package. I read the "database" file into Excel
>> and keep a printout in the kitchen. The program works well, and barcode
>> reads are quite reliable once you get used to the swiping speed needed.
>>
>> As to your program conflicts, problem with many of the early computers
>> with "operating systems" supplied by Microsoft, is the RAM driver concept
>> is limited in practical use. Microsoft intended the RAM driver facility to
>> patch a ROM driver that may have bugs or add additional planned system
>> expansion (like the DVI, Bar Code Reader, TDD, Option ROM, etc.). Later
>> third party developers who had a product that used their own RAM driver all
>> seemed to locate them in the same address in memory (top of available RAM,
>> the logical place to put it). This creates memory conflicts. Especially in
>> computers using the Intel 8080/8085 processors that do not support
>> "relative" addressing. Without relative addressing, the user cannot move a
>> driver to a different starting address in memory without recompiling it
>> first, and since the user does not get a copy of the source code, he is
>> usually out of luck.
>>
>> There were a few attempts using programs that would read the code of the
>> driver and attempt to find all of the JMP and CALL instructions and patch
>> them directly to a new base starting address, but it was not always
>> successful, as often times the driver would contain inline data bytes that
>> would confuse the conversion program. These programs usually worked on
>> computers using the Z80 processors, since it did support relative
>> addressing.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> 
>>
>> 
>>
>> Message: 14
>> Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2018 00:57:07 -0500
>> From: Anthony Coghlan 
>> To: "m...@bitchin100.com" 
>> Subject: Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX
>> Message-ID:
>> > ail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> Yes, that was the drive belt I used also if I recall, made by Russell
>> Industries.  I can?t find my old purchase info from eBay, but it was about
>> $9 at the time.  (I think Brian mentioned that price as well.)  It was so
>> nice to see the drive come to life!
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Anthony
>>
>>
>> All on the list:  any tips on reliably using the bar code reader?  Thanks.
>> I?m threatening to inventory our pantry if I can get it working, though my
>> wife doesn?t think that?s such a practical application...  :)
>>
>> 
>>
>>
>>

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX / M100 Digest, Vol 87, Issue 2

[Anthony Coghlan]

Thanks, Peter. I think I’m going to try the barcode reader you use if I can
get it on eBay cheaply, as it may be more reliable anyway.  Perhaps I have
to try loading the driver and program with REX temporarily disabled as an
experiment.  I suspect a conflict in memory and don’t otherwise know how to
resolve that.

Best wishes,
Anthony



On Friday, March 2, 2018, Peter Noeth  wrote:

> I don't have a REX in my M102, but I have been using the BCR to do
> "pantry" and "wine cellar" inventory. Both are in the basement, so are not
> readily accessible when one wants to know what is down there. I am not
> using the Radio Shack wand, but instead am using a UniTech
> MS120-NTCB00-SG "industrial strength" wand. It is "plug-in" compatible with
> the RS wand, and has a sapphire tip that doesn't abrade the barcode labels
> and keeps dust out of the wand. It also has better "dynamic range" so has
> no problems reading low contrast barcodes or ines in color. I am using the
> sample "Simple Inventory" program (with some modifications) that came with
> the RS Barcode Reader package. I read the "database" file into Excel
> and keep a printout in the kitchen. The program works well, and barcode
> reads are quite reliable once you get used to the swiping speed needed.
>
> As to your program conflicts, problem with many of the early computers
> with "operating systems" supplied by Microsoft, is the RAM driver concept
> is limited in practical use. Microsoft intended the RAM driver facility to
> patch a ROM driver that may have bugs or add additional planned system
> expansion (like the DVI, Bar Code Reader, TDD, Option ROM, etc.). Later
> third party developers who had a product that used their own RAM driver all
> seemed to locate them in the same address in memory (top of available RAM,
> the logical place to put it). This creates memory conflicts. Especially in
> computers using the Intel 8080/8085 processors that do not support
> "relative" addressing. Without relative addressing, the user cannot move a
> driver to a different starting address in memory without recompiling it
> first, and since the user does not get a copy of the source code, he is
> usually out of luck.
>
> There were a few attempts using programs that would read the code of the
> driver and attempt to find all of the JMP and CALL instructions and patch
> them directly to a new base starting address, but it was not always
> successful, as often times the driver would contain inline data bytes that
> would confuse the conversion program. These programs usually worked on
> computers using the Z80 processors, since it did support relative
> addressing.
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter
>
> 
>
> 
>
> Message: 14
> Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2018 00:57:07 -0500
> From: Anthony Coghlan 
> To: "m...@bitchin100.com" 
> Subject: Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX
> Message-ID:
>  gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Yes, that was the drive belt I used also if I recall, made by Russell
> Industries.  I can?t find my old purchase info from eBay, but it was about
> $9 at the time.  (I think Brian mentioned that price as well.)  It was so
> nice to see the drive come to life!
>
> Best wishes,
> Anthony
>
>
> All on the list:  any tips on reliably using the bar code reader?  Thanks.
> I?m threatening to inventory our pantry if I can get it working, though my
> wife doesn?t think that?s such a practical application...  :)
>
> 
>
>
>

Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX / M100 Digest, Vol 87, Issue 2

[Peter Noeth]

I don't have a REX in my M102, but I have been using the BCR to do "pantry"
and "wine cellar" inventory. Both are in the basement, so are not readily
accessible when one wants to know what is down there. I am not using the
Radio Shack wand, but instead am using a UniTech
MS120-NTCB00-SG "industrial strength" wand. It is "plug-in" compatible with
the RS wand, and has a sapphire tip that doesn't abrade the barcode labels
and keeps dust out of the wand. It also has better "dynamic range" so has
no problems reading low contrast barcodes or ines in color. I am using the
sample "Simple Inventory" program (with some modifications) that came with
the RS Barcode Reader package. I read the "database" file into Excel
and keep a printout in the kitchen. The program works well, and barcode
reads are quite reliable once you get used to the swiping speed needed.

As to your program conflicts, problem with many of the early computers with
"operating systems" supplied by Microsoft, is the RAM driver concept is
limited in practical use. Microsoft intended the RAM driver facility to
patch a ROM driver that may have bugs or add additional planned system
expansion (like the DVI, Bar Code Reader, TDD, Option ROM, etc.). Later
third party developers who had a product that used their own RAM driver all
seemed to locate them in the same address in memory (top of available RAM,
the logical place to put it). This creates memory conflicts. Especially in
computers using the Intel 8080/8085 processors that do not support
"relative" addressing. Without relative addressing, the user cannot move a
driver to a different starting address in memory without recompiling it
first, and since the user does not get a copy of the source code, he is
usually out of luck.

There were a few attempts using programs that would read the code of the
driver and attempt to find all of the JMP and CALL instructions and patch
them directly to a new base starting address, but it was not always
successful, as often times the driver would contain inline data bytes that
would confuse the conversion program. These programs usually worked on
computers using the Z80 processors, since it did support relative
addressing.

Regards,

Peter





Message: 14
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2018 00:57:07 -0500
From: Anthony Coghlan 
To: "m...@bitchin100.com" 
Subject: Re: [M100] Bar code reader with REX
Message-ID:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Yes, that was the drive belt I used also if I recall, made by Russell
Industries.  I can?t find my old purchase info from eBay, but it was about
$9 at the time.  (I think Brian mentioned that price as well.)  It was so
nice to see the drive come to life!

Best wishes,
Anthony


All on the list:  any tips on reliably using the bar code reader?  Thanks.
I?m threatening to inventory our pantry if I can get it working, though my
wife doesn?t think that?s such a practical application...  :)