Urchlay Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I'm looking for this VT100 emulator I used a long, long time ago... It was called "VT100SPA.COM" on my old (corrupt) floppy disk. As I remember, it had an 80 column display, and didn't support file transfers. I don't even think it had any kind of menu, it was just a dumb terminal emulator, but I never had any documentation for it. I recall it being pretty good for those troublesome ANSI BBSes that Kermit couldn't handle. I've searched on XL Search and the Holmes archive, don't see it there... at least not under that name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I can log on to the 'net here in Baltimore MD by a shell accountfrom the public library. I have used OmniComm for years,as it has 80 columns,VT100,and Kermit and X-modem downloads. Also baud rates up to 9600bps.Has been a real workhorse for me. Sadly,about 8 years ago,I tried to contact the author to send the shareware fee,but I received no reply from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarixle Posted November 13, 2006 Share Posted November 13, 2006 I don't know about "VT100SPA.COM", but you could try "ICE-T". It also has an 80-Column display and comes with some drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 I can log on to the 'net here in Baltimore MD by a shell accountfrom the public library. I wish the libraries here were that cool... last dialup shell account I had was at Ga. Tech, and they got rid of the modems years ago. Of course, these days, I can provide my own (all hail the penguin!), but I miss those days still... I have used OmniComm for years,as it has 80 columns,VT100,and Kermit and X-modem downloads. Also baud rates up to 9600bps.Has been a real workhorse for me. I'll have a look at it. I'm basically going through them all, crossing off the ones that don't work for me. I don't know about "VT100SPA.COM", but you could try "ICE-T". It also has an 80-Column display and comes with some drivers. Ice-T is nice, but I'm looking for something that'll run on an unexpanded 800 (or perhaps a 1200XL, but the 800 has the best display and keyboard). The version of Ice-T that works on an 800 has issues (screen gets garbled if there are too many VT100 escape codes coming in, I end up with a blinking cursor as tall as the screen!) I tried a couple versions of Kermit (K65), but they're worse: they actually crash after a couple of minutes. ANSITERM looks like it might be nice, but the version I have crashes if I load the 850 driver, and doesn't crash, but doesn't work either, if I don't. Flickerterm doesn't work (says it can't find the R: handler, even though I know I loaded it), but I couldn't stand to use it even if it did. I'll give Omnicomm a shot, and keep digging through my floppies to see if I have another copy of the VT100SPA emulator (I was pretty good about backups in those days). If I find it, I'll post it here: apparently it didn't make it into any of the Atari 'net archives. None of this is really crucial anyway, I'd probably use a VT100 emulator once, to log in to this site and post "Hey, I'm posting on my Atari" If I were going to seriously use a serial terminal, I'd probably use my DEC VT220 or VT420 (surprising what you can find in a dumpster, if you know where to look). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Flickerterm doesn't work (says it can't find the R: handler, even though I know I loaded it), but I couldn't stand to use it even if it did. Two possibilities-- the R: handler is getting loaded as R2: or higher, in which case you need to adjust the config setting, or the R: handler simply isn't getting loaded at all. When FT80 says it can't find an R: handler, what it means is that no handler by that letter exists, period. As for the flicker, that can be mitigated almost to non-noticeability by just turning down the text brightness a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 (edited) OK, I found another floppy with a copy (or at least, I think it's the same as what's on the bad disk). Here's a .zip archive (includes bare Atari executable and an ATR image): vt100_0.7.zip Maybe someone will recognize it... When you run it, you see a banner like this: 222 2 2 VV VV TTTTTTTTTT 11 00 2 VV VV TTTTTTTTTT 11 00 2 VV VV TT 1111 00 00 2 VV VV TT 1111 00 00 22222 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV TT 111111 00 VV TT 111111 00 by Dave Bailey and Alex Stevens (with help from a few others!!) Version 0.7 I've no idea whether this can be found in any of the archives on the 'net (Holmes, etc), but if not, I guess I've done my part for digital archaeology... Edit: I've just found out this won't run on an 800. It seems to need at least a 64K machine (works on my XEGS). Bummer. Edited November 14, 2006 by Urchlay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Since long distance phone calls are now so inexpensive,perhaps someone would like to try the dial-up (free!)that I use to connect to the Internet with the Atari 8bit: Dial 1-410-605-0500 with a 1200bps (or faster) modem. Log on as "guest". You need a terminal program that supports VT100, 80 columns,and either Kermit or Z-modem downloads. I have used OmniComm for years. Unfortunately,no telnet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velcro_SP Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 (edited) I can log on to the 'net here in Baltimore MD by a shell accountfrom the public library. Too cool! Is this totally free? Do you have to have a library card and sign up? What all can you do with a shell account? There is an old graphical web-browser, I mean like a decade old, called Icomm that could be used with a shell account. I tried it one time. Ah, never mind my "is it free" question, I see you answered that. Edited November 14, 2006 by Velcro_SP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansiterm Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I remember that as VT100SQ ("VT100 squared"), but yeah, it emulates a dumb terminal. I ran it on an unmodified 48K 800 as that was all I had 15-20 years ago. Could the program be having a problem with some of your other hardware? OK, I found another floppy with a copy (or at least, I think it's the same as what's on the bad disk). Here's a .zip archive (includes bare Atari executable and an ATR image): vt100_0.7.zip Maybe someone will recognize it... When you run it, you see a banner like this: 222 2 2 VV VV TTTTTTTTTT 11 00 2 VV VV TTTTTTTTTT 11 00 2 VV VV TT 1111 00 00 2 VV VV TT 1111 00 00 22222 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV VV TT 11 00 00 VV TT 111111 00 VV TT 111111 00 by Dave Bailey and Alex Stevens (with help from a few others!!) Version 0.7 I've no idea whether this can be found in any of the archives on the 'net (Holmes, etc), but if not, I guess I've done my part for digital archaeology... Edit: I've just found out this won't run on an 800. It seems to need at least a 64K machine (works on my XEGS). Bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 The problem I had with VT100 SQUARED was that it had no download ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 I remember that as VT100SQ ("VT100 squared"), but yeah, it emulates a dumb terminal. I ran it on an unmodified 48K 800 as that was all I had 15-20 years ago. Could the program be having a problem with some of your other hardware? I don't see how... It didn't run on the 800, so I swapped the 800 with the XEGS (unplugged SIO cable from the 800, plugged into the XEGS). If it didn't like my SIO2PC or something, well, it was still attached when it worked on the XEGS. I used the same DOS 2.0 boot disk image for both, too... Maybe it was a different version you had, that worked on the 800? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansiterm Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Maybe I had/have an older copy. I recently unpacked some of my Atari collection but haven't had time to play with it much. I can look for my copy of VT10SQ, but unfortunately, I don't have a way to transfer it to my PC at the moment. Still, I could try it on my 800 and verify that it works. IIRC, there was a similar program called Ansiterm that was also a dumb terminal but supported the ANSI character set. That also ran on my 800. I remember that as VT100SQ ("VT100 squared"), but yeah, it emulates a dumb terminal. I ran it on an unmodified 48K 800 as that was all I had 15-20 years ago. Could the program be having a problem with some of your other hardware? I don't see how... It didn't run on the 800, so I swapped the 800 with the XEGS (unplugged SIO cable from the 800, plugged into the XEGS). If it didn't like my SIO2PC or something, well, it was still attached when it worked on the XEGS. I used the same DOS 2.0 boot disk image for both, too... Maybe it was a different version you had, that worked on the 800? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 Maybe I had/have an older copy. I recently unpacked some of my Atari collection but haven't had time to play with it much. I can look for my copy of VT10SQ, but unfortunately, I don't have a way to transfer it to my PC at the moment. Still, I could try it on my 800 and verify that it works. IIRC, there was a similar program called Ansiterm that was also a dumb terminal but supported the ANSI character set. That also ran on my 800. OK, I actually found a version of it in the Holmes archive. It's called "V10SQ.ARC", and it lives on disk 2, under "Atari Archives/Telecomm". It's not quite the same as the one I have (has a "(modified for XL by K. Knutson)" in the title screen, although my copy also runs on an XL), but there's documentation in the .arc file. It's kind of academic anyway, I've found that both versions only support 300 and 1200 baud. I'm wanting to use it for a direct link to the serial port on my Linux box, which should be able to do 9600 bps easily (and 19200 too, but maybe not with an 850 with the standard driver). Unfortunately I can't use a VT52 emulator: the Linux programs I want to run (BitchX or irssi IRC clients) need a terminal that supports scrolling and clear-to-EOL, which vt52's don't. Too bad: I'd actually be content with Bobterm (even at 40 columns). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 It's kind of academic anyway, I've found that both versions only support 300 and 1200 baud. I'm wanting to use it for a direct link to the serial port on my Linux box, which should be able to do 9600 bps easily (and 19200 too, but maybe not with an 850 with the standard driver). Unfortunately I can't use a VT52 emulator: the Linux programs I want to run (BitchX or irssi IRC clients) need a terminal that supports scrolling and clear-to-EOL, which vt52's don't. Too bad: I'd actually be content with Bobterm (even at 40 columns). I really think OmniComm might fill your needs,as it can go to 9600bps,with 80 columns. Omnicomm.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted November 16, 2006 Author Share Posted November 16, 2006 I've discovered that at least some of my terminal emulation problems might have been caused by a flaky SIO cable (not dead, just flaky). Will give Omnicomm a shot later tonight. I never tried it because I thought it needed an Omnimon OS, but the docs say it runs without it. I should have RTFM'ed before now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 I've discovered that at least some of my terminal emulation problems might have been caused by a flaky SIO cable (not dead, just flaky). Will give Omnicomm a shot later tonight. I never tried it because I thought it needed an Omnimon OS, but the docs say it runs without it. I should have RTFM'ed before now... You have to read the documentation to be able to alter the baud rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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