Re: More GS printer information

[a2mg@aol.comNomail (A2MG)]

I'll try to answer each point that you make. Pardon me if I over-quote. While I
think I know everything about AppleWorks, I am pretty GS-dumb.

>>>>I think you have that backwards.  UltraMacros interferes with many
useful features of the IIgs (notably AppleTalk and anything else using
time-critical interrupts), so I never used it.

Nope. UltraMacros (nee' MacroWorks and SuperMacroWorks) was written long before
the IIGS or GS/OS ever existed. The author had no way of knowing what the GS
interrupting accessories would do. 

As for AppleTalk, yes, you can use it with UltraMacros in AW 5. Quality had UM
turned off if AppleTalk is present because it kept crashing on their servers.
But it doesn't have to be. There is a patch to allow UM and AppleTalk to live
harmoniously.  The AppleTalk patch which comes with AppleWorks 5 (in RFP,
Randy's Free Patcher) doesn't work. You need the other one. I'll look it up if
anyone is interested. Ask me about it, and I'll look it up for you. 

>>> I don't understand why UltraMacros could not be modified to remain
compatible with these features of the IIgs.  If it was only a speed
issue, then an accelerator should solve it.

It is an interrupt (clocks, screen savers, etc) vs. aux mem issue. UM cannot be
modified because it would require a complete re-write of the program to turn
the interrupt things off every single time UM lept into aux mem (which is a
lot!). 

>>> (Sorry for the mini rant - this is my major peeve with AppleWorks 4/5.)

No problem, we've heard it all before. At least you didn't bring in the scary
ClrHeartbeat tech note - we know about that, too. Meanwhile, AppleWorks 4 and 5
have been happily sailing along with ClrHeartbeat for over 5 years. Everyone
who uses AppleWorks 4 (not 5) on a IIGS automatically runs it, although they
may not know it. On AW 5, it's an option.

>>> It shouldn't.  ClrHeartBeat removes all heartbeat tasks, which run every
vertical retrace (50 or 60 times a second).  (It also loses track of
them permanently.  I hope UltraMacros does some tricks to save the
original value, so the tasks can be reinstated when AppleWorks quits.)

No, the tasks are not reinstated. There is no opposite call to ClrHeartBeat. If
there were, it would be in there, obviously. We know that's bad. OTOH, I have
never heard any complaints. I don't think they notice that they aren't back on.
Rebooting solves it. And there is another, better solution, noted below.

>>> The desk accessory menu doesn't interact directly with the heartbeat
task queue (the Ctrl-Apple-Escape sequence has its own special
interrupt), but some CDAs might need it.  A 57k6 speed select CDA only
needs to poke some values into serial port hardware registers (and
possibly hook into the serial firmware to ensure the setting sticks).

Then that's the answer to the Epson Stylus question. If the 56K cda doesn't
enter the heartbeat task queue, then it wouldn't be affected. I do wish someone
would test it and report back.

The REAL solution to the UltraMacros and GS interrupt question is to launch
from ProSel-16. ProSel-16 clears out a lot of stuff and allows UltraMacros to
live gracefully with GS interrupts always "on." We don't know why, exactly. No
ClrHeartbeat patch is needed if you launch through ProSel-16. Even if you
launch AW 5 from the Finder, you can route it through ProSel-16 and then have
ProSel-16 automatically run AppleWorks 5. That should solve the interrupt
problem.  If someone who has the source code to ProSel could figure out what
this heartbeat-related purge actually does, then we could patch it directly
into AppleWorks and everyone would be happy. This would be a good, positive use
of ProSel code that doesn't merely duplicate somebody else's hard work.

The AppleTalk will still need the patch to skip over the disabling of it.


Beverly Cadieux 
http://members.aol.com/A2MG