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Spectre 3.0 Release Notes
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KEYBOARD DRIVER
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The new keyboard mapping is as follows
F1 Mount drive A
F2 Mount drive B
F3-F10 Mount hard drive partitions 1-8
Shift-F1 (unused)
Shift-F2 (unused)
Shift-F3-F10 Mount hard drive partitions 9-16
Control-F1 Color, Scrunch mode
Control-F2 Color, Scroll mode
Control-F3 Color, Top of scrolled screen
Control-F4 Color, Bottom of scrolled screen
Control-F5 SLM804, ImageWriter emulation ON
Control-F6 SLM804, ImageWriter emulation OFF
Control-F7 SLM804, Force formfeed
Control-F8 SLM804, Dump buffer contents
Control-F9 SLM804, 72 dpi rotated screendump
Control-F10 SLM804, 300 dpi screendump
Alternate-F1 Mac Plus emulation
Alternate-F2 Mac 512Ke emulation
Alternate-F3 SCCVIA patches ON
Alternate-F4 SCCVIA patches OFF
Alternate-F5 Orwell's disk monitor ON
Alternate-F6 Orwell's disk monitor OFF
Alternate-F7 Turbo disk mode ON
Alternate-F8 Turbo disk mode OFF
Alternate-F9 Debug mode ON
Alternate-F10 Debug mode OFF
(the Alt-Ctl-Fx keys are only active in Debug Mode)
Alt-Ctl-F1 SLM804 hex dump
Alt-Ctl-F2 SLM804 hex dump OFF
Alt-Ctl-F3 Disk messages ON
Alt-Ctl-F4 Disk messages OFF
Alt-Ctl-F5 Line-A tracer ON
Alt-Ctl-F6 Line-A tracer OFF
Alt-Ctl-F7 Debug to printer ON
Alt-Ctl-F8 Debug to printer OFF
Alt-Ctl-F9 Bus Error messages ON
Alt-Ctl-F10 Bus Error messages OFF
ESC Same as keypad Clear (this results in a true ESC code)
UNDO Same as Command-Z (normally UNDO menu entry)
DELETE Same as Command-X (normally CUT menu entry)
INSERT Same as Command-V (normally PASTE menu entry)
CLRHOME Same as Command-C (normally COPY menu entry)
HELP Same as Command- (normally HELP menu entry - if available)
Shift-HELP Calls up configuration page
Alternate-Control-ClrHome Parks all hard disks
Alternate-Control-Delete Warmboot (stays in Mac mode)
Alternate-Control-RightShift-Delete Coldboot (back to ST mode)
As is expected, the keypad and arrows now work as they do on a real Mac
(including the shift-, command-, and option- versions).
The configuration page now reflects any changes made via the function
keys (this includes machine type, ImageWriter emulation, and SCCVIA
patches).
Applications which return the keyboard type now correctly report the
keyboard as a Macintosh Plus keyboard. Also, the problems with the
Calculator DA with the keypad have been fixed.
Note non-U.S. keyboard may not work properly when Spectre is in Mac 512Ke
mode (as opposed to Mac Plus mode).
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SOUND MANAGER
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The Macintosh Sound Manager (introduced in System 6.0 and Hypercard) is
now supported. This means HyperCard sounds and alternate System Beeps (in
the 'Sounds' CDEV) will work. Due to the differences between the Mac and
ST hardware, some sounds may not sound quite right - most notably the
'Cling-Klang' and default beeps. The vast majority of sounds should play
just fine.
You will also notice a slight pause the first time a System Beep is
sounded. This is necessary to ensure compatibility with all current and
future System versions.
If a MegaTalk board is installed, all sounds should sound correct.
Note when using a color monitor, you might see an occasional flickering
dot on the screen as a result of this - this is normal.
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SOUND DRIVER CHANGES
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Setting the sound volume to 0 in the Control Panel (in the General CDEV
or the Sound CDEV) will disable sound. Mac applications will not be able
to override this.
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SLM804 CHANGES
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Page buffer is now cleared following a 300 dpi (straight) screen dump.
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CONFIG PAGE CHANGES
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The Spectre config page now displays on all monitors, both standard and
non-standard (Spectre 2.65 only displayed the config page on a standard
Atari monitor).
The config page is also now available in 832K mode. Due to memory
restrictions, in 832K mode, Spectre must request 32K of memory from the
Mac OS to use as a screen buffer. If 32K is not available, the config page
will not appear. If this occurs, quit back to the finder to release some
memory and try again.
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SERIAL DRIVER CHANGES
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The advanced control call for setting the baud rate (csCode=13) is now
supported. This should fix CDC Connect (and another CDC program) and
any other terminal program which may be using this call.
Several minor changes have been made to the serial driver which may
improve compatibility with some applications (such as the Async LaserWriter
driver - see comments in the 'Bug Fixes' section).
Due to some slight hardware incompatibilities, if you wish to use the
Asynchronous LaserWriter driver (or other application which uses async.
serial IO), you need to turn on the 'Async. serialprinter' option on the
config page. Be advised, though, that having this selection on can cause
a significant slow-down in programs which do not use async. serial IO
(such as dot-matrix printer drivers).
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6802068030 SUPPORT
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CPU type is automatically determined by Mac OS. The Spectre code has
been modified to work with any of the 680x0 family of CPUs.
Mac applications which check the CPU type will know which CPU is
installed.
ZEUS II has been introduced to handle Bus Errors on the 68010, 68020,
and 68030.
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6888168882 SUPPORT
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The 68881882 in the Atari TT, the Gadgets' 68030 SST, or other 68020
68030 accelerators is now supported for Mac use. This does not include
Atari's 68881 expansion board (SFP004) for the Atari Mega, which interfaces
the 68881 chip in a manner which is exclusive to the Atari.
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IMPROVED MONITOR SUPPORT
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Spectre can now handle monitors of virtually any size automatically.
This includes standard ST, Moniterm Viking, ISAC (monochrome mode), Matrix,
TT High Res (1280x960). Overscan mode is not yet supported due to the
non-standard software requirements.
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DISK DRIVERS (floppy & hard disk)
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Spectre now does a better job of informing the Mac whether a disk is
in the drive. This was causing problems with Apple File Exchange and can
be seen with SUM II (look at the Drive Queue).
The size of a drive as shown by SUM II, Norton Utilities and a few other
utilities is now correct.
MacEnvy II and other programs which check the drive type will now think
the floppies are FDHD drives (SuperDrives) controlled by a SWIM controller
and should know the hard disk partitions are not 400K floppies. This
should eliminate the problem of hard disk backup programs converting a
hard disk partition into a 400K MFS partition.
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FLOPPY DISK DRIVER
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The floppies now function as SuperDrives (minus the 1440K mode) and can
readwrite MS-DOS (not ST) disks with programs that support it. DOS
Mounter and Apple File Exchange work as they should.
Using Apple File Exchange, you may format 720K MS-DOS disks which are
usable by Apple File Exchange, DOS Mounter, AccessPC, and directly in ST
mode.
Aladin disks are also supported. There are options in the CONFIG page
to select which format (Spectre or Aladin) to use on each drive. There is
also a CONFIG page option to select whether the Aladin disks are 9 sectors
per track or 10.
The icon for MS-DOS and Aladin disks is a floppy disk without a Mac
Plus or Spectre logo.
If you get a disk failure on an MFM formatted floppy, Spectre will not
drop into GCR mode. This means if you insert an STMS-DOS disk, you will
get the format dialog much quicker.
The in-line formatter now supports Spectre format. You can format a
Spectre disk by holding down SHIFT when the format operation begins. If
you are using a Spectre 128, you will get Spectre format automatically.
The floppy disk cache has been removed entirely (to free up some more
space).
NOTE 1 Only double-sided MS-DOS and Aladin disks are supported.
NOTE 2 You can only mount MS-DOS disks with DOS Mounter or AccessPC.
MS-DOS disks can be read from and written to using DOS Mounter, AccessPC,
or Apple File Exchange.
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HARD DISK DRIVER
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The hard drive readwrite code has been TOTALLY rewritten to provide
68020030 support.
You can now park all attached hard disks by pressing Alt-Ctl-Home. All
hard drives must have been ejected prior to doing this (if any HDs are
mounted, the park function will be inoperative).
Once you've parked the HDs, you will be able to continue using the
computer, but will be unable to mount any HD partitions. Parked HDs need
to be powered down before they will be usable again.
The Mac OS now knows that Spectre hard disks are actually hard disks and
not floppies. You can now select Erase Disk to erase a hard disk
properly. Also, dragging a floppy disk icon to a hard disk window will
create a folder on the hard disk like it is supposed to.
Spectre partitions which support saved parameter RAMConfig page
settings will have the type 'OOP' instead of the previous 'ACK' (which is
still supported but can't handle the saved parameter RAMConfig page data).
See 'PARAM RAMCONFIG PAGE SAVER' section for further details.
Note Atari TT SCSI drives are not yet supported. ACSI drives connected to
the DMA port work fine, though.
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PARAM RAMCONFIG PAGE SAVER
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The parameter RAM (holds your control panel, Map CDEV, and Sound CDEV
settings) is now saved, along with your CONFIG PAGE settings. To use this
feature, you must use Spectre 3.0 to reformat your boot partition so that
the space needed for saving this data is reserved.
If the hard drive partition you have selected to boot from is an 'OOP'
partition, the PARAM RAMCONFIG PAGE data will be loaded from that
partition. If the partition is an 'ACK' partition, or if you don't have
a HD partition selected to boot from, the PARAM RAMCONFIG PAGE data will
be loaded from the first enabled 'OOP' partition.
If you're confused about 'ACK' and 'OOP' partitons, there's a simple
rule. Partitions formatted with Spectre 2.65 or before are 'ACK'
partitions. Partitions formatted with Spectre 3.0 and above are 'OOP'
partitions.
Note There are no provisions for saving this PARAM RAMCONFIG PAGE data
to floppy disk.
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MEGATALK SUPPORT SUPPORT
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Selecting 'MegaTalk' in the 'Printer' menu (see below) causes the 2
serial ports on the MegaTalk board to be used as the Mac serial ports.
If a MegaTalk board is present, the SCSI port on it will automatically
be enabled allowing the use of any Mac SCSI device and software. Keep in
mind that the Spectre launcher only shows devices connected to the ST's
DMA port. The SCSI port is virtually identical to the Mac Plus both
electrically and functionally (i.e. the function keys for inserting and
ejecting Spectre hard drives does not apply).
If there are any bootable SCSI devices attached to the MegaTalk board,
they have priority over Spectre hard disk partitions when booting.
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VERTICAL BLANK
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There are now two settings for vertical blank (selectable in the CONFIG
page) REAL and SIMULATED. The two modes offer different pros and cons, so
you should select the one appropriate for the work you are doing.
REAL Vertical Blank (used in Spectre versions prior to 2.65)
PROS 1. Vertical blank interrupts are synchronized with the screen
(some animationgames rely on this).
2. Vertical blank won't interfere with the SCC chip on the
MegaTalk board. The prevents lost data.
CONS 1. When using a monochrome monitor, any software which uses
vertical blank for timing will be inaccurate. This affects
sounds which will be higher pitched than normal (like Spectre
versions prior to 2.65), benchmarks, and some other time-based
software.
SIMULATED Vertical Blank (used in Spectre 2.652.65c)
PROS 1. Application which use vertical blank for timing will be
accurate (sounds will be the correct pitch and benchmarks will
be correct).
CONS 2. May interfere with applications which use the SCC chip on the
MegaTalk board (AppleTalk and MIDI).
For the most part, SIMULATED vertical blanks can be used for general
use. If you are using a MegaTalk board, it is likely you will need to
select REAL vertical blank to prevent interference with MIDI.
This can all get a bit confusing. If you're completely lost, try them
both and see which one works for the programs you are running.
Note 1 Coda's Finale can use MIDI in either mode. Most other MIDI
applications require REAL vertical blanks.
Note 2 Opcode's Vision will play MIDI music too fast when using REAL
vertical blanks with a monochrome monitor. The work-around is to
simply decrease the tempo slightly.
Note 3 The speed of the REAL vertical blank is determined by the monitor
plugged into the ST's monitor port. This is important if you are
using a Moniterm, ISAC, or other display system which doesn't use
the standard monitor port.
A color monitor will result in a 60 HZ vertical blank (in the U.S.,
50 Hz in Europe) and a monochrome monitor will result in a 71 Hz
vertical blank (worldwide).
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64K ROM SUPPORT
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64K ROM support has been eliminated. It hasn't worked since Spectre
1.9 anyway. We got VERY FEW complaints (maybe 2 or 3) and we needed the
space.
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NEW LAUNCHER
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The ST-mode launcher has been reworked with many changes to the menus
SPECTRE 3.0g1 This menu entry now reflects the Spectre version number.
The 'Spectre 3.0' dialog now indicates whether a MegaTalk board is
installed.
FILE 'Spectre' and 'Quit' positions were reversed to conform with the ST
standard for the 'File' menu.
Note ^Q is the keyboard equivalent for Quit regardless of the language.
MEMORY sizes shown are legal Mac memory sizes. Any size too big for the
current machineconfiguration is greyed out. The last size on the list
is the absolute maximum memory size supported by the configuration and
may not equate to a real Mac size. STs with 3 Megs of memory are now
supported.
Note 1 you'll notice that on machines with more than 1 Meg, the max.
memory size is 64K larger than before. This was an error in previous
versions.
PRINTER there are three choices for using the ST ports
1. 'Parallel' directs the Mac printer port to the ST parallel port.
2. 'Serial' directs the Mac printer port to the ST serial port.
3. 'SLM804' directs the Mac printer port to the ImageWriter emulator
for the SLM804.
There is one MegaTalk choice
1. 'MIDISerial' directs BOTH the Mac printer and modem ports to the
corresponding MegaTalk ports. When this is selected, the ST's
parallel and serial ports are inoperative.
The MegaTalk menu entry is disabled if a MegaTalk board is not
installed.
Note you MUST select 'MIDISerial' for most MIDI applications to
function properly.
PARTITIONS This menu displays all available MacSpectre hard disk
partitions and lets you select the one you'd like to boot from. Up to
16 partitions are allowed and displayed.
You can select the partition you wish to boot from by clicking on it. A
checkmark will appear next to its name in the menu. If you click on the
currently selected boot partition, it will be deselected and when you
go into Mac mode, you will be able to boot from any drive by pressing
the appropriate function key when the flashing question-mark () appears.
HARD DISK 'Hard Disk boot' has been eliminated in favor of the booting
method described in the section above.
'Slow SCSI' has been renamed 'Turbo SCSI' and works opposite previous
versions. 'Turbo SCSI' is the same as the normal case in previous
versions. Having 'Turbo SCSI' turned off is the same as selecting 'Slow
SCSI' in previous versions.
The hard disk format dialog has been changed extensively. The dialog
now shows a graphical display of the hard drive with each partition
shown as a bar whose size is proportional to the partition size on the
HD. Each bar's fill pattern corresponds to the type of the partition.
You can select a partition by either clicking on the numbered
box or the rectangular area corresponding to the desired partition.
The 'Type' field now shows whether a Mac partition is HFS or MFS. If the
partition supports Parameter RAM saving, it will be shown with a '-P'
after the type, like this 'Spectre-P HFS' or 'Spectre-P MFS'.
'BGM' (HDX 3.0x Big GEM) partitions may now be converted to Spectre. All
partitions foermatted with Spectre 3.0 will be of type 'OOP' as opposed
to the old 'ACK'.
Formatting a HD partition for Spectre writes a directory slightly
different than that created by the Mac. This prevents Disk First Aid
from working. If you wish to use Disk First Aid, use the Finder's
'Erase Disk' function to create the proper directory structure.
If you wish to reformat a Spectre partition and keep it the same type
(i.e. keep an 'ACK' as an 'ACK' partition), just select 'Erase Disk' in
the Finder menus. If you wish to convert an 'ACK' to 'OOP', you will
need to use Spectre's format (after which you may use 'Erase Disk' to
be compatible with Disk First Aid).
The new Mac hard drive partitioning scheme is now recognized, so using
real Mac HDs or Mac-formatted SyQuest cartridges should no longer be a
problem. Parameter RAM saving is not supported for these drives.
After formatting a partition for Spectre use, the auto-boot setting
of the hard disk is maintained.
FLOPPY DISK Formatting a floppy disk writes a directory slightly
different than that created by the Mac. This prevents Disk First Aid
from working. If you wish to use Disk First Aid, use the Finder's
'Erase Disk' function to create the proper directory structure.
OPTIONS 'Help' provides on-line help (this will be detailed later).
The 'Alternate Video' option has been eliminated. The new dynamic
screen sizing automatically puts the screen in its optimal location.
Sound can be turned on and off here. 'Sound 6.0.x' has been eliminated
since the Sound Manager now works. It was also determined that due to
hardware differences, supporting the STE & TT sound hardware would not
provide any benefit.
The SLM804 device number is set here.
The 68030 options allow you to select which of the 68030's caches to
have enabled and allows you to turn Burst Mode on or off. Generally,
having them all on is the fastest, but in a few rare cases, you may run
across software which is not compatible with one or more of these modes.
Also, Burst Mode may not be supported by all 68030 boards or machines.
Turning on Burst Mode when it's not support should cause no harm, but
will not increase performance, either.
The cache options are only enabled if a 68030 CPU is installed.
The floppy cache has been removed entirely.
All hard drive access in the launcher is done in a 'Slow SCSI'-like mode to
prevent problems with some hard drives.
On the TT, if you are in a resolution other than ST High (640x400) or
TT High (1280x960), Spectre will switch into ST High before going into
Mac mode.
DRVR128.PRG was renamed DRVR128.SYS to prevent confusion (it is NOT a
runnable program, as its name suggested).
Spectre will look for language files, help files, keyboard files, and
DRVR128.SYS in both the current directory AND in a folder called ETC if
it exists. This provides for better organization of files. The
SPECTRE.CNF must be in the same directory as SPECTRE.PRG.
LAUNCH.PRG will look for SPECTRE.CNF in the AUTO folder, outside the AUTO
folder or in a SPECTRE folder (if it exists).
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FOREIGN LANGUAGES
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The Spectre launcher now determines the nationality of the TOS ROMs and
will load an appropriate language file (if present) so that all of the
menus, alerts, and dialogs will appear in the appropriate language. The
language files are named
USA.LNG - United States of America (this isn't really necessary)
FRG.LNG - Federal Republic of German
FRA.LNG - France
UK.LNG - United Kingdom
SPA.LNG - Spain
ITA.LNG - Italy
SWE.LNG - Sweden
SWF.LNG - Switzerland (French)
SWG.LNG - Switzerland (German)
TUR.LNG - Turkey
FIN.LNG - Finland
NOR.LNG - Norway
DEN.LNG - Denmark
SAU.LNG - Saudi Arabia
HOL.LNG - Holland
If there is a file named DEFAULT.LNG, it will override the auto-country
detection. If the appropriate country's language file is not present then
the built-in English text will be used.
Instructions for modifyingcreating language files are in the file
SAMPLE.LNG.
Note not all of these language files are included with Spectre. If you
create a language file for a country not included, we would appreciate a
copy of it to distribute with Spectre.
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LOADABLE KEYBOARD TABLES
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Spectre will now automatically load a keyboard table for the appropriate
country (similar to the language files). By editing the keyboard table,
you can remap most of the keys to other keys. This is primarily for those
countries that we don't currently support, although others may want to
change the keyboard table as well. For example, you can now swap the
function of the Alternate and Control keys (many people have requested
this). You can also create a Dvorak keyboard layout, etc.
The keyboard table files are named the same as the language files,
except they have a .KEY extender (instead of .LNG). Instructions for
modifyingcreating keyboard tables are in the file USA.KEY.
Note as with the language files, not all keyboard files are included with
Spectre. If you create a keyboard file for a country not included, we
would appreciate a copy of it to distribute with Spectre.
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ON-LINE HELP
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When this option is selected, a help file is loaded from disk and
displayed in a dialog box. The first help screen is a list of available
topics - clicking on one will bring you to the appropriate page. Clicking
on 'Home' will take you back to the topic list page.
Help files are named the same as the language files, except they have a
.HLP extender (instead of .LNG). Instructions for modifyingcreating help
files are in the file USA.HLP.
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MISCELLANEOUS
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The 'Restart' menu option in Finder now works (except on the TT).
The 'Welcome to Macintosh' and Shutdown dialogs are now centered on the
screen properly. The startup disk icon and Happy Mac icons are also
centered.
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BUG FIXES (since Spectre 2.652.65c)
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As stated above, the keyboard type is now correct (Mac Plus keyboard)
and the problem with the Calculator DA and the keypad is fixed.
Several bugs in the in-line formatting code have been fixed making
in-line formatting much more stable and reliable. Spectre should never
lock up when an unformatted disk is inserted.
A bug necessitating pressing a function key twice to mount a drive after
restarting has been fixed.
A problem with the Extended Parameter RAM (XPARAM) not working properly
is now fixed. This was evident in the Map CDEV, which wouldn't let you set
your current location correctly.
When using System 6.0.4 (and above), emulation of a Mac Plus (as opposed
to Mac 512Ke) works as it should.
System 6.0.5 now works.
System 6.0.6 and 6.0.7 work, although the new Sound Manager in them does
not work. You will only be able to use the 'Simple Beep'.
When restarting after a crash or failed boot, the system would often
lockup (with a non-flashing question mark). This is now fixed. Under
VERY extreme circumstances, this could have caused lockups at other times.
A bug in the Bus Error handler has been fixed. This now allows
Grammatik Mac to work and PageMaker 4.0 to print PostScript to disk without
locking up. This may also help other applications which simply freeze the
machine. Note these programs are doing an illegal Zerostore which the
Bus Error handler was handling incorrectly; the real problem still lies
internally to the application.
Several bugs in the serial driver have been fixed. This allows the use
of Apple's Asynchronous LaserWriter driver to print directly to a
PostScript printer attached to the serial port.
A change was made in the mouse handler which should prevent the mouse
from ever locking up. Note that this isn't necessarily the same as the
COMPUTER locking up, which is generally the result of misbehaved software.
Flashing A & B, crash page, Orwell's disk monitor and other debugger
output should display properly on non-standard monitor sizes.
Pressing keypad- at a crash page should return you to the Finder. This
was always here, but never worked properly. Now, it has a good chance of
working, although the crash may have left the machine in a non-recoverable
state. Note that this works by quitting the current application and
returning you to the Finder. If you are already at the Finder, this will
NOT work.
Copying Mac & Spectre disks with Spectre's 'Duplicate Disk' function
now works properly. Previously, there were times it would report that the
destination disk is bad.
KanjiTalk 2.0 now works.
HyperCard 2.0 now works.
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EXISTING BUGS
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System 6.0.66.0.7 Sound Manager doesn't work (this will not be fixed in
Spectre 3.0, probably not in 3.1 either).