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  Volume 1 Issue 9                                              November 1989
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         /  /    | /    |  |     \  \_______|  |     |  |_________\  \
        |___|    |/     |___|     \____________|     |________________\
 


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                   ||   \_|  \____/    ||    |____   ___/


                        The Official Newsletter of:

                        The  Motorola  Users  Group
                                of London


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                                Modem Month




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November 1989                       MUG Notes                          Page 1
                             Motorola  Users  Group
                                   of  London

                                1989  EXECUTIVE

PRESIDENT     Stan Bischop   500 Osgoode Dr. #122.  London  N6E 2G9  668-7277
VICE-
   PRESIDENT  Erik J. Tromp  1 Partridge St., Rear  London  N5Y 3R5  679-6168
SECRETARY     Judy Daviau    500 Osgoode Dr. #122   London  N6E 2G9  668-7277
TREASURER     Sheila Smith   11 Bridle Path         London  N6Y 2H1  672-4913
                              APPOINTED POSITIONS

MEMBERSHIP
 CO-ORDINATOR Judy Daviau    500 Osgoode Dr. #122   London  N6E 2G9  668-7277
NEWSLETTER
      EDITOR  Sheila Smith   11 Bridle Path         London  N6Y 2H1  672-4913
P.D.LIBRARIAN Diane Gubbels  R.R. #1 Miller Rd.   Delaware  N7G 3H8  652-3844
PUBLIC
   RELATIONS  Gerry Thomas   232 Oakland Ave.       London  N5V 4H1  659-1374
B.B.S. SYSOP  Wayne Morrison 532 Pinetree Dr.       London  N6H 3N1  471-5064
NEWSLETTER
   PUBLISHER  Wayne Morrison 532 Pinetree Dr.       London  N6H 3N1  471-5064
TECHNICAL
  ADVISORS    Stan Bischop   500 Osgoode Dr. #122   London  N6E 2G9  668-7277
              Gerry Davis    1053 Frances St.       London  N5W 2L8  453-8686
              Wayne Morrison 532 Pinetree Dr.       London  N6H 3N1  471-5064
       MUG Line B.B.S. 24 Hours Daily  300/1200 Baud   N-8-1   641-0927


                                 DISCLAIMER
   The  opinions  expressed  by  the  authors are not necessarily those of the
Motorola Users Group of London,  the  editors, or the club members.  While  we
try to make sure that  all software and hardware  projects  in this newsletter
have been tested and  do  work,  we will not  be responsible for any damage to
your own personal equipment resulting  from  using  information  contained  in
this newsletter.

                              COPYRIGHT NOTICE
   Contents  of this  newsletter are  copyrighted  1989 by the  Motorola Users
Group  of  London.  Reproduction by any means  other than for the personal use
of  members  without  prior  written  consent  is  forbidden. Other non-profit
computer  clubs  may  make  use of the enclosed  material as  long as  written
acknowledgement is made of the source.

                                   MANDATE
   This newsletter is published by and for the Motorola Users Group of London.
This  club  has no  affiliation  with the Motorola Corporation. This club is a
non-profit   organization for  anyone   that may have an interest in  Motorola
68XX and 68XXX based microcomputers  and the  use and  exchange of information
about these machines.














 
    November 1989                MUG Notes                       Page 2
 
 
 
 
                             Table of Contents
 
      Page                         Item
      ====                         ====
       1.....................List of Officers and Mandate

       2.....................Table of Contents

       3.....................Dreaming in Colour

       4.....................Are You Hooked?

       6.....................About Basic09

       7.....................International Modeming

       9.....................Direct Connect Modem Pak

       13....................Revenge of the Hackers














                          SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
 
        The Motorola Users Group of London sponsors two special interest
     groups (SIG's for short).
 
        The beginners' SIG meets on Tuesday nights at Bob and Peggy
     Griffin's (78 Beechmount Cres.) starting at 7:00 P.M.
 
        The advanced SIG meets at Judy Daviau's (122-500 Osgoode Dr.)
     Wednesday nights also starting at 7:00 P.M.
 
         Whether  you  have  just  started out or you are an experienced
     hacker, there should be something of interest for you!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 3
 
 
 
                               DREAMING IN COLOR
 
 
       Well now that you thought about  the  title  of  this  article   long
    enough  let  me  explain it.  We the users of the color computer whether
    under OS9 or RSDOS, have a wealth of  public  domain,  under  our  belt.
    Most  of  us have bought a public domain disk sometime in the past and I
    think everyone will agree the disk was worth the price paid.
 
       About  now  you  probably  are  wondering  what  that  has to do with
    dreaming. Well, the next person you meet on the street ask them if  they
    had  a  dream  last  night.   If so, was it in black and white or color.
    Most will have to accept the fact that it was in black and  white.   Now
    COCO users on the other hand probably say that their dream was in COLOR.
    The reason for this is, that we have a computer that will do things like
    no  other.  Other computer users only wish they had a true multi-tasking
    machine, with inter-active windows, like we have.
 
       So   when   you  are  dreaming  in  color  you  are  doing  something
    unattainable by others.  Now some of you in the club may not  be  up  to
    this  level yet, but I am sure the help is around.  Plus there is enough
    interesting software in our P.D.  library to get you there also.
 
       In  December I will start to show some of the software in our library
    at the regular meetings.  I plan to be following our monthly themes, but
    if  there  is  something  that someone would like to see just ask, and I
    will see what I can do.
 
 
                           GERARD GUBBELS





* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*                                                                         *
*                T H E   N E X T   M E E T I N G   O F                    *
*                                                                         *
*             _____  _____     ____       ____     ___________            *
*            /    | /    |     |  |       |  |     |   _____  \           *
*           /     |/     |     |  |       |  |     |  |     \__\          *
*          /  /|     /|  |     |  |       |  |     |  |                   *
*         /  / |    / |  |     |  |       |  |     |  |                   *
*        /  /  |   /  |  |     |  |       |  |     |  |       ____        *
*       /  /   |  /   |  |     |  |       |  |     |  |      |__  \       *
*      /  /    | /    |  |     \  \_______|  |     |  |_________\  \      *
*     |___|    |/     |___|     \____________|     |________________\     *
*                                                                         *
*                    Will Be Held On December 12, 1989                    *
*                             6:30pm to 9:00pm                            *
*                      London Central Public Library                      *
*                              Lower Level                                *
*                                Room #2                                  *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *







    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 4
 


 
                                 Are You Hooked?
 
 
         Are you one of a growing number of people who are known  as  "Power
    Users",  "Hackers"  or "Computer Brains"?  Or is it safe to say that you
    just like to use your computer now and then?  If you fall into the first
    category  then  you  are hopelessly lost in the circuits and there is no
    hope of you ever leading a "normal" life again.  To see if  you  are  in
    danger, take the following test.

         Add points as indicated to achieve a total  point  score  and  then
    look at the table to see if there is any hope for you at all.
         Good Luck !!
                                                            YES    NO
     1) Does your bathroom have back issues of computer
        magazines as reading material?  .....................+25   + 1
 
     2) When you look at a bottle of Hires Root Beer do
        you read it as "Hi Res" (as in great graphics)?  ....+25   + 1
 
     3) Do you ever find yourself at a gathering of people
        and someone says something that would be very
        funny if the statement were thought about in
        computer terms and you are the only one to laugh?  ..+25   + 1
 
     4) Do you think "Hex" is a spell to cast on someone?  ..+ 1   + 5
 
     5) Do you love Star Trek?  .............................+10   + 1
 
     6) When you add up your grocery bill do you use:
           a) Decimal .......................................+ 5   + 1
           b) Hex ...........................................+30   + 1
           c) Octal .........................................+35   + 1
           d) Binary ........................................+40   + 1
 
     7) Does "Debugging" mean using a can of Raid?  .........+ 1   + 5
 
     8) When you hear the term "DOCS" do think of doctors?  .+ 1   +10
 
     9) Do you have an oscilloscope at home?  ...............+30   + 1
    10) Do you use line numbers on your grocery list?  ......+35   + 1
    11) Is "FORTH" a misspelling?  ..........................+ 1   + 5
    12) Is "MIPS" a computer term?  .........................+ 5   + 1
    13) Do you think a "Hard Drive" is a very long trip
        without rest?  ......................................+ 1   + 5
    14) When you see the letters "PC" do you think of the
        Progressive Conservative Party?  ....................+ 1   + 5
    15) ASCII means Aaron Stanley Chatsworth the second .....+ 1   + 5
    16) Is VapourWare a new kind of cookware?  ..............+ 1   + 5
    17) When you turn on your whole computer system, do the
        lights in your house dim?  ..........................+40   + 5
 
 
 
 






    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 5
 
 




    18) Do you own at least 25 books on computers or their
        hardware?  (Manuals for software do not count) ......+20   + 1
    19) Do you own at least 50 books on computers or their
        hardware?  (Manuals for software do not count) ......+35   + 1
    20) Have you ever sold a program (that you wrote) to a
        business or the general public?  ....................+50   + 1
    21) Do you spend at least 35 hours a week, of your
        leisure time, using computers?  .....................+25   + 1
    22) Do you get excited about a sale on printer paper
        and tell all your friends?  .........................+20   + 1
    23) Do you belong to groups with wierd names like: MUG,
        LCCMS, Apple Corps or LCUC?  ........................+25   + 1
    24) Do you write computer instruction articles?  ........+30   + 1
    25) When you hear the term "Bits and Bytes" do you
        think of a kind of snack food?  .....................+ 1   + 5
    26) If you overhear someone referring to some great new
        chips, do you ask:
          a) what flavour they are?  ........................+ 1   + 5
          b) what speed they run at?  .......................+25   + 1
    27) Are you afraid of catching a virus:
          a) at a large party?  .............................+ 1   + 5
          b) while playing a new game?  .....................+25   + 1
    28) When you hear someone refer to disk trouble do you:
          a) recommend a good chiropractor?  ................+ 1   + 5
          b) ask when they last cleaned the contacts?  ......+25   + 1
    29) Is "RS-232" a friend of "C3-P0" and "R2-D2"?  .......+ 1   +10
    30) Do you refuse to go camping because the parks have
        no RS-232 hook ups?  ................................+40   + 1
 
 



 
      40-100 "Neophyte" - You have obviously never seen a computer before.
     101-200 "USER" - You don't care how the machine works as long as it
               does.  You need not worry about getting in too deep.
     201-300 "Enthusiast" - You are wondering down the road to "Hackerdom"
               and if you are not VERY careful, you will soon be hooked.
     301-400 "CHIPPER" - You are known as a "Little Hacker" in some  circles
               and  you are definately hooked.  There may be help for you if
               you have the will power to give it up now!
     401-500 "HACKER" - With some medical insurance and a good clean
               lobotomy, there may be help for you.
     501-650  "HACKER, POWER USER & COMPUTER BRAIN" - Forget it.  You are so
               hooked that nothing short of death will ever cure you!
     651-700 "COMPUTER" - You are obviously a computer.  I bet you'd need
               an electronics engineer to perform brain surgery on you!












    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 6

                                 ABOUT BASIC09
                                             by W.  Morrison
    
       You  have now had a month to ponder what we explored last time.  I am
    sure that some of you will  have  grasped  this  concept  of  modularity
    completely,  and  by  now  you are merrily experimenting with it on your
    own. However, I am also sure that there are some readers out  there  who
    are  quite confused by it all.  Because of that I am going to spend some
    time reviewing what we covered last month.
       Most  of  you, I expect, likely got your start with some form of CoCo
    Basic, be  it  Disk  Basic,  Extended  Basic,  or  whatever.   In  those
    programming  languages,  passing  parameters  and running other programs
    from within currently running programs were totally foreign concepts.
       It  does  take a fair amount of re-focusing to come to grips with the
    power available in Basic09.  Mind  you,  there  is  nothing  wrong  with
    writing  a  CoCo  Basic program using Basic09, and for the most part, it
    would work.  The only problem is that you would not really be using  the
    full  power  of  the Basic09 language.  It would be much like taking out
    eight of the spark plugs from a Ferrari V-12 engine,  just  because  you
    happened to like cars with four cylinder engines.
       To back up a couple of steps, I am going to give you an  overview  of
    what we did last time, in plain english.  First we wrote a program which
    would print, to your computer screen;
    
     This is an example of
     the  power of Basic09
    
       Then  we  enhanced  this program by writing a second one which spaced
    out the text on our screen so that it would be  centered  (if  you  used
    the proper co-ordinates);
    
                         This is an example of
                         the  power of Basic09
     
       When we ran the first program, it called the second program to do its
    job,  passing  it  two co-ordinates to use to position the next line  of
    text at and when the second program was finished,  program  control  was
    passed  back  to  the  first  program, at the next line or command after
    which program two was called.   Then  the  original  program  continued.
    When  program  number one encountered the second "run" command, it again
    transferred program  control  to  the  second  program  passing  it  two
    co-ordinates  to  use,  and  again, when it was done, control was passed
    back to the original program, starting with the next line or command.
       In  this  way,  it  is  possible  to  break down one large program or
    problem into several modules, each dealing with a single problem.   This
    can  make  life  for  the programmer very easy, as, he can deal with one
    problem at a time and  then  join  the  modules  together  creating  the
    program he desires, in the way that he wants.
        Next month, I am going to show you another module.  This one is used
    when  you  want  to clear only part of your computer's  screen.  If, for
    example, you were writing a database program and needed to  be  able  to
    clear  out  any  individual  file  without destroying your headings, how
    would you accomplish it?  For example, if you had headings down the left
    of  your  screen  and  data  to the right of the headings, how would you
    erase the data to replace it with  more  data,  without  destroying  the
    headings?
       Next month I'll present my solution, and meanwhile, see what you  can
    come up with.
    





    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 7
    
    
                             INTERNATIONAL MODEMING
    
       The  following  messages  were  downloaded  from  one  of  the  major
    American  BBS systems.  They are included here firstly, as an example of
    what can be gained by being  on-line  and  secondly  to  help  our  OS-9
    users realize what is out there!
    
     : 93696 S10/Tandy CoCo
         29-Oct-89  06:52:06
     Sb: new stuff?
     Fm: Paul Kacprowicz 72057,345
     To: Bruce Isted 76625,2273
     Bruce:
     Dennis  is still having problems and asked me to upload his message for
    him.
     Well the graphics were certainly the most *impressive* and visible part
    of the upgrade.  The "Mona Lisa" demo was very  possibly  running  under
    Basic09,  though it was hard to tell because of the incredible speed.  I
    understand that it could be as much as 10 times as fast as the same demo
    running  under  the  stock  Level II version.  Most probably the get/put
    buffers related commands had some re-writing; possibly even Basic09  (or
    RunB) itself.
     Shell+ most likely IS Ron's; maybe even an advanced  version  which  we
    have not seen yet.
     Keep in mind that my meager information is second-hand.  As  such  it's
    liable  to  contain  some  mis-information.  We need someone  to set the
    record straight.
     Kevin, are you reading this?
     Dennis will be traveling this week and won't be able to respond himself
    till he returns.  But he'll be happy to answer any questions then.
           -- Paul
     Press <CR> for next or type CHOICES !
     : 93697 S10/Tandy CoCo
         29-Oct-89  07:06:57
     Sb: rainbowfest news
     Fm: Paul Kacprowicz 72057,345
     To: all
     Due  to  a  change  in  charge  card number (which I stupidly forgot to
    notify CIS about), I'm temporarily locked out here.   I  *DID*  want  to
    make the following information as public as possible, so I've asked Paul
    to upload it for me now.
    
                                    Dennis Skala
                                    73177,2365
     -- Here's a bit of interesting and potentially exciting news  from  the
    recent Somerset Rainbowfest ---
     On the exhibit floor, things were a little  on  the  dull  side.   Tony
    DiStefano's 1 meg board, the Rascan Digitizer, and several  new software
    offerings being some notable exceptions, there were relatively  few  new
    things at the 'fest to get enthused about.
     However behind closed doors, it was entirely another story.
     I  was  an  inadvertant  witness  to  a  rather  exciting  development.
    Although I'm sure I didn't see everything significant, from what I  did,
    I  think  it's  not  unreasonable  to  infer that we might be due for an
    improved, upgraded version of Level II OS9.








    November 1989                  MUG Notes                          Page 8
    
    
    
    
     FACTS:
      1.  There exists an improved and more powerful windowing interface for
    Level  II.   I've seen it, and it's outstanding.  I should make it clear
    that I'm talking about the OS itself, not an application program.   It's
    best  described  as Macintosh-like.  Over lapping, moveable, dynamically
    resizable windows.  There are also significant improvements in  graphics
    speed  as  well.   An   impressive  demo was a ball bouncing around on a
    background screen, partially obscured by a picture of Mona Lisa.
      2.  Tandy is aware of this.
      3.  Everyone involved is being extremely quiet about it.
     Press <CR> for next or type CHOICES !
     : 93698 S10/Tandy CoCo
         29-Oct-89  07:08:29
     Sb: 'fest news cont'd
     Fm: Paul Kacprowicz 72057,345
     To: all
    
     PROBABLY TRUE CONJECTURES:
      1.   Lots  of  the  well-known folk in the Coco OS9 world are involved
    here, and several thousand man-hours of work have gone in to  the  "Mona
    Lisa" (my name) project.
      2.   The  relative  silence  regarding  this  significant  development
    probably means that those involved are obligated by a secrecy agreement.
      3.  Tandy is involved.
    
     REASONABLE CONJECTURES:
      1.  Tandy is considering marketing this, or at least licensing a third
    party to do so.
      2.   A  major  upgrade  of  Level  II  OS9  is very possible, probably
    depending on some negotiating and/or legal maneuvering.
      3.   There  were  probably  other  significant,  less  visibly obvious
    improvements which I did not see,  such  as  the  inclusion  of  shell+,
    gshell+,  or  perhaps even expanded versions of these.  An upgrade would
    also afford the opportunity to squash some  of  the  pesky  bugs  within
    Level  II,  such  as  disappearing windows, locked shells, wrong palette
    registers being returned by system  calls, etc.  I  know  that  many  of
    these  have  been fixed by patches available here, but an "official" fix
    for these makes things  ever so much nicer for everyone.
     I'm  kinda excited about this, and I wanted to share my excitement with
    the Coco OS9 community.  This is a rather unique development.   I  could
    tell  that  the folks involved were dying to talk (brag) about this, but
    were restrained by ethical considerations.  I won't name any names here,
    so  as  to not put anyone directly on the spot, but I'm sure many of you
    can guess a few names on your own.  So keep  your  eyes  open  for  some
    exciting news.  Here's hoping it all comes to pass!
    
            ***** Dennis *****
    













November 1989                      MUG Notes                            Page 9


                              Problems and Fixes
                    for the Tandy Direct-Connect Modem Pak
                                       
                          (c) Marty Goodman Aug. 1987
 
                                 Introduction
 
      Many  folks  who  are new to Delphi are getting on line after buying the
 Tandy Direct-Conect Modem Pak catalog no.  26-2228 (hereafter referred to  as
 the "DCM-pak" ). They typically get on line using the software built into the 
 pack,  then  discover  that  this  software  is very limited, and pretty much
 worthless for up and downloading, despite claims  to  the  contrary  made  by
 Tandy  and  the  instructions for the DCM-pak. These folks then desire to use
 the DCM-pak with quality terminal programs, such as Mikeyterm, Autoterm, Greg 
 E Term, Ricyterm, Data Pak II, etc.  At this point  they  discover  that  the
 DCM-pak  is  set  up differently from the RS232 pak, and NONE of the existing
 quality terminal programs written under Disk Extended Basic will support it.  
 
      This article is designed to explain why the problems occur, and  suggest
 various ways  to  fix  the  problem.    Note  that for some of the solutions,
 hardware tinkering ability is required.  
 
                                 The Best Fix
 
      By far the VERY BEST thing to do if you own a Direct Connect  Modem  Pak
 is to  GET  RID  of  it!  It is not a good piece of equipment, for it is over
 priced and under featured.  If at all  possible,  take  your  direct  connect
 modem pak back to the store, get a refund, and purchase instead a Tandy RS232 
 pak (catalo no.  26-2226) for the color computer.  The buy an inexpensive 300 
 baud  modem  ($30  or  less)  or a decent Taiwan clone Hayes Compatible stand
 alone 1200 baud modem ($100 or less in  Computer  Shopper,  Byte,  and  other
 computer magazines).  This combination is vastly more flexible, and will work 
 with all standard CoCo terminal programs.  
 
      Unfortunately,  the  RS232 pak has been discontinued, and is unavailable
 at this time at most stores.  IF you can find one, it is being closed out  at
 $29.95 each.   So  if  you  can find one, by all means buy it up.  At present
 there is no official word from Tandy as  to  what  (if  anything)  they  will
 replace the old  RS232  pak  with.  Rumors abound.  Perhaps a better Multipak
 that has the RS232 and other features built in?  Unlikely. Perhaps  an  RS232
 pak  that  also  has a real time clock and/or parallel port and/or hard drive
 interface built in?  Or,  perhaps  they  will  just  not  replace  it,  in  a
 misguided  attempt  to  force  CoCo users to buy the worthless DCM-pak and so
 lock them into Tandy's overpriced add ons.  Time will tell.  
 
      If you CAN'T find an RS232 pak, or if you can't return your DCM-pak  and
 want  desperately to get your $90 worth out of it, I present some other (less
 desireable) solutions below.  
 
                          The Nature of the Problem:
                                       
              (The following discussion will be a bit technical.)
 
 
      The DCM-pak is somewhat similar to the RS232-pak. Both use a  6551  UART
 chip addressed  to  the  I/O  area  of  the  CoCo's  memory.    But there the
 similarity ends.  The DCM-pak has the outputs of its 6551 chip directly wired 
 to an on board single chip 300 baud direct connect modem.  It talks  to  this


                                                                         


 November 1989                      MUG Notes                          Page 10

                                                                         
 modem  at  TTL  signal  levels,  so  at  no  time  are  RS232  voltage levels
 generated.  The RS232 pak instead has the  signal  lines  of  its  6551  UART
 connected  to  TTL  to  RS232  and  to RS232 to TTL converters, and then to a
 pretty much standard DB25 connector.   To  facilitate  level  conversion,  it
 actually  has  on  board  a  solid  state  5  volt to + and - 12 volt voltage
 converter to power the 1489 and 1488 chips  it  uses  for  level  conversion.
 Thus, the RS232 pak can communicate via a standard RS232 cable with virtually 
 all third  party  stand  alone modems.  This opens the door for use at higher
 baud rates, particularly with the extremely  economical  Taiwan  Clone  Hayes
 Compatible  1200  and 2400 baud stand alone modems, which as I write this are
 available for under $100 and under $200 respectively.  These modems have  the
 additional  advantage  of  being fully useable with any other computer system
 (such as an IBM PC clone), whereas the DCM-pak is useable ONLY with  a  Color
 Computer.  
 
      There  is a second difference between the DCM-pak and the RS232 pak that
 is the source of most of the compatibility problems: The  6551  chip  in  the
 DCM-pak  has  its  ports  mapped  to locations $FF6C thru $FF6F in the CoCo's
 memory, where the RS232 pak  has  the  ports  on  its  6551  chip  mapped  to
 addresses  $FF68  thru  $FF6B. Thus, a program designed to "look for" and use
 the RS232 pack will not "see" the DCM-pak, due to the different addresses  it
 has its  UART mapped to.  This problem can be attacked either via software or
 hardware modifications: 
 
                                Software fixes:
 
      Mikeyterm will soon  be  re-released  as  version  4.7,  a  "maintanance
 release"  that cleans up some obscure minor bugs, but that will also add some
 extra capabilities.  One extra capability to be added will be the ability  to
 change the  address  range it looks for the 6551 chip in.  This will probably
 be incorporated as part of the Configure program that  it  will  be  released
 with.   Thus,  users  of Mikeyterm will be able to alter Mikeyterm so that it
 can talk to their Direct-Connect Modem paks.  All they will  have  to  do  is
 plug  the  DCM-pak  into  their Multipak, configure Mikeyterm to look for the
 6551 chip at addresses $FF6C-$FF6F (as per  instructions  or  prompts  to  be
 found in the configurator program), and they will be able to create a working 
 copy of Mikeyterm that will work with their DCM-paks.  
 
      For other programs, you will need to be an assembly language hacker, and 
 to  go  thru the program looking for ALL valid occurrances of addresses $FF68
 thru  $FF6B,  and  then  change  those  occurrances  to  $FF6C  thru   $FF6F,
 respectively.   Be  very  careful  to  make sure the occurrances you find are
 truly valid.  When searching for four different addresses in a  big  program,
 you  just  might  find  a false occurrance of that "address" that actually is
 valid code for something else.  If the program  you  are  attacking  is  copy
 protected, you will of course first have to bust the copy protection on it to 
 be  able  to  try  to  fix  it  for  the DCM-pak. In the case of two programs
 (Rickyterm and GEterm) the authors are available here on Delphi  and  may  be
 able to provide assistance in making the needed fixes to their programs.  
 
                                Hardware Fixes:
 
      The  other approach is to physically alter the DCM-pak so that its ports
 are re-addressed to the exact SAME ports that the RS232 pak uses.   This  has
 the  major  advantage  that  it  will then work with ALL devices that use the
 RS232 pak, tho of course operation will still be limited  to  300  baud,  for
 that is the only speed that the DCM-pak's modem works at.  The one very minor 
 disadvantage  of  this approach is that you will not be able to have both the


                                                                         


 November 1989                   MUG Notes                             Page 11

                                                                         
 DCM-pak and an RS232 pak in your Multipak at the same time after you make the 
 hardware modification I am about to describe.  Tho I do not own a DCM-pak,  a
 sympathetic  Radio Shack store owner allowed me to take apart his pak and let
 me determine what is involved in making the address change.  ´
ÿ’	Y
	
Newsletters (Sept/90 to Mar/90©

 
(hÀyl Pierce 
 the sticker and remove that screw.  This will, of course, remove any hope you 
 might have of being able to return the DCM-pak to the store!  
 
      (2) Pop the case apart.  You will find that there is a short cable  that
 connects  a  tiny "daughter" board mounted in the top of the case to the main
 "mother board" of the pak that is screwed to the bottom part  of  the  shell.
 Be careful not to damage this cable.  Just lay the case open so that you have 
 full view of the main mother board.  
 
      (3)  With  the  connector that plugs into the Color Computer facing you,
 note that there are two 28 pin integrated circuits sitting side by side.  The 
 onea of them to the left (located just to the right of a crystal) is the 6551 
 chip.  The one to the right is a 2364 ROM chip that has the worthless program 
 that accompanies the pak.  To the right of the 2364 ROM chip are two  smaller
 integrated circuits.    The one of these that is nearest the 40 pin edge card
 connector is a 74LS04 chip.  Note that the names of these chips (6551,  2364,
 74LS04) are all clearly printed ON the chips in question, tho you may have to 
 look for these names amid other more cryptic numbers that may also be printed 
 on the chips.  
 
      (4)  Just above and to the left of the 2364 chip is silk screen in white
 the numeral "1". This is to indicate where pin 1 of that chip is.  Just below 
 and to the left of that that particular "1" is a solder  pad,  from  which  a
 trace continues  down  a  ways,  then  runs to pin 8 of that 2364 chip.  This
 trace is clearly visible on the TOP (component side) of the board.  CUT  THIS
 TRACE  between the solder pad and the place where it connects to pin 8 of the
 2364 chip.  
 
      (5) Run a jumper wire from pin 8 of the 2364 chip to pin 9 of the 74LS04 
 chip.  Run another jumper wire from pin 8 of the 74LS04 chip to pin 2 of  the
 6551 chip.  
 
      That's it!  
 
      Your DCM pak will now be re-addressed to the same port locations used by 
 the old RS232 pak.  
 
 
      Below you will find, in "teletype graphics", a picture of the lay out of 
 the relevant  part  of the DCM-pak that you will be working on.  ndicated are
 the three chips that need to operated on, and the one trace that needs to  be
 cut.   This trace is show with an arrow pointing to it and the word "cut". Of
 course, neither the arrow nor the word "cut" are silk screened on the  actual
 DCM-pak board!  But the three numeral "1"'s that are in the following diagram 
 are  in  fact  also  to be found on the DCM-pak mother board, silkscreened in
 white, and will help you find pin one of the chips in question.  Do note that 
 the diagram shows only the front part of the pak, and only the most  relevant
 landmarks.  Still, I believe it may be helpful to you.  


                                                                         


 November 1989                   MUG Notes                             Page 12


               
               
               
               
                                            l   l
                    1             1         l   l
                     l--v--l    o  l--v--l  l   l
                     l     l    l  l     l  l   l
               XTAL  l  6  l cutl  l  2  l   ---
                     l  5  l  ->l  l  3  l 1
                     l  5  l    l  l  6  l  l-v-l
                     l  1  l    ---l  4  l  l   l
                     l     l       l     l  l L l
                     lUART l       l ROM l  l S l
                     l     l       l     l  l 0 l
                      -----         -----   l 4 l
                                             ---
               
               
                 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
                 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
               
               
                     40 pin edge card connector
               
                     top view of DCM-pak card
               
      Note  also  that  when  I  instruct you to solder wires to given pins of
 given chips, this must be done quite delicately.  I recommend using 30  gauge
 wire wrap type  wire.  Be sure not to short out adjacent pins.  Note that the
 pins are NOT to be cut!  They can remain hooked to whatever they were  hooked
 to on the PC board.  
 
      One final  note.  IF you insist in making the MISTAKE of trying to use a
 Y cable instead of a Multipak, then there is  one  further  modification  you
 must make.    Clip  pin 22 of the 2364 ROM chip so it no longer makes contact
 with the PC board.  Then solder a jumper between the remaining stubble  of  a
 pin that  emerges  from  the  chip  and  pin  28 of that chip.  This mod will
 disable the ROM chip and allow you to use the Modem Pak with a Y  cable  with
 your disk  controller.    But I warn you: Y cables are BAD things to use, and
 often cause unreliable disk operation!  
 
 
      Making the modifications described above requires considerable skill  in
 electronic PC  board  tinkering.  Do NOT attempt them yourself if you are not
 experienced in such matters.  It is easy to destroy these  delicate  circuits
 if you  lack  the  proper experience or the proper tools.  In the hands of an
 experienced and well-equipped hacker, tho, the mods  described  above  should
 not take more than a half hour total to make.  
 
    ---marty 
 








                                                                         


     November 1989                   MUG Notes                        Page 13


                         _______________________________
                            The REVENGE of the Hackers
                         _______________________________

          (This is a sequel to the article "The night of the Hackers")
  
          This is  the  follow-up to  the  previous  article  concerning  the 
     Newsweek reporter.  It spells out SOME of the REAL dangers to ALL of us,
     due to  this type of activity!  
  
          In the mischievous fraternity of computer hackers, few  things  are
     prized more  than  the  veil  of  secrecy.    As  NEWSWEEK San Francisco
     correspondent Richard Sandza found out after  writing  a  story  on  the
     electronic  underground's  (DISPATCHES,  Nov.  12, 198  ability to exact
     revenge can be unnerving.  Also severe....  Sandza's report: 
  
          "Conference!"  someone yelled as I put the phone to my ear.    Then
     came  a  mind-piercing  "beep,"  and  suddenly my kitchen seemed full of
     hyperactive  15-year-olds.  "You  the  guy  who  wrote  the  article  in
     NEWSWEEK?"   someone  shouted  from  the  depths of static, and giggles.
     "We're going disconnect your phone," one shrieked.  "We're going to blow 
     up your house," called another.  I hung up.  
  
          Some irate readers write letters to the editor.  A few  call  their
     lawyers.   Hackers, however, use the computer and the telephone, and for
     more than simple comment.    Within  days,  computer  "bulletin  boards"
     around  the  country  were  lit  up  with attacks on NEWSWEEK's "Montana
     Wildhack" (a name I took from a Kurt  Vonnegut  character),  questioning
     everything from  my  manhood to my prose style.  "Until we get real good
     revenge," said one message  from  Unknown  Warrior,  "I  would  like  to
     suggest  that  everyone  with an auto-l modem call Montana Butthack then
     hang up when he answers."  Since then the hackers of America have called 
     my home at least  2000  times.    My  harshest  critics  communicate  on
     Dragonfire,   a  Gainesville,  Texas,  bulletin  board  where  I  am  on
     teletrial, a video-lynching in which  a  computer  user  with  grievance
     dials the  board and presses charges against the offending party.  Other
     hackers -- including the defendant  --post  concurrences  or  rebuttals.
     Despite  the  mealtime  interruptions,  all  this  was  at  most a minor
     nuisance; some was amusing, even fun.  
  
          FRAUD: The fun stopped with  a  call  from  a  man  who  identified
     himself only  as Joe. "I'm calling to warn you," he said.  When I barked
     back, he said, "Wait, I'm on your side.  Someone has broken into TRW and 
     obtained a list of all your  credit-card  numbers,  your  home  address,
     social-security  number  and  wife's  name and is posting it on bulletin
     boards around the country."  He named the charge cards in my wallet.  
  
          Credit-card numbers are a very hot commodity  among  some  hackers.
     To  get  one from a computer system and post it is the hacker equivalent
     of making the team.  After hearing from Joe I visited the  local  office
     of the  TRW  credit  bureau  and  got  a copy of my credit record.  Sure
     enough, it showed a Nov. 13 inquiry by the Lenox (Mass.)  Savings  Bank,
     an institution  with  no  reason whatever to ask about me.  Clearly some
     hacker had used Lenox's password to the TRW computers to get to my files 
     (the bank has since changed the password).    







     
     November 1989                    MUG Notes                       Page 14



  
          It wasn't long before I found out  what  was  being  done  with  my
     credit-card  numbers, thanks to another friendly hacker who tipped me to
     Pirate 80, a bulletin board in Charleston, W.Va., where  I  found  this:
     "I'm  sure  you  guys have heard about Richard Stza or Montana Wildhack.
     He's the guy who wrote the obscene story  about  phreaking  in  NewsWeek
     Well, my friend did a  credit  card  check on TRW . . . Try this  number
     it' a VISA . . . Please nail this guy bad . . . Captain Quieg. 
  
          Captain Quieg may himself be nailed.  He has  violated  the  Credit
     Card  Fraud  Act  of 1984 signed by President Reagan on Oct. 12. The law
     provides  a  $10,000  fine  and  up  to  a  15-year  prison   term   for
     "trafficking" in  illegally  obtained  credit-card  account numbers.  He
     "friend"  has  committed  a   felony   violation   of   the   California
     computer-crime law.  TRW spokeswoman Delia Fernandex said that TRW would 
     "be more than happy to prosecute" both of them.  
  
          TRW has  good reason for concern.  Its computers contain the credit
     histories of 120 million people.  Last year TRW sold 50  million  credit
     reports on  their  customers.    But  these highly confidential personal
     records are so poorly guarded that computerized  teenagers  can  ransack
     the files and depart undetected.  TRW passwords -- unlike many others -- 
     often print  out when entered by TRW's customers.  Hackers then look for
     discarded printouts.  A good source: the trash of banks  and  automobile
     dealerships, which  routinely  do credit checks.  "Everybody hacks TRW,"
     says Cleveland hacker King Blotto, whose  bulletin  board  has  security
     system the Pentagon  would  envy.    "It's  the easiest."  For her part,
     Fernandez insists that TRW "does everything it can to  keep  the  system
     secure".

          In my  case,  however, that was not enough.  My credit limits would
     hardly support big-time  fraud,  but  victimization  takes  many  forms.
     Another  hacker  said it was likely that merchandise would be ordered in
     my name and shipped to me  --  just  to  harass  me.    I  used  to  use
     credit-card  numbers  against  someone  I didn't like," the hacker said.
     "I'd call Sears and have a dozen toilets shipped to his house."  
  
          Meanwhile, back on Dragonfire, my teletrial was going strong.   The
     charges, as pressed my Unknown Warrior, include "endangering all phreaks 
     and hacks."   The judge in this case is a hacker with the apt name of Ax
     Murderer. Possible sentences range from exile from the entire planet" to 
     "kill the dude."  King Blotto has taken  up  my  defense,  using  hacker
     power  to  make  his first pleading: he dialed up Dragonfire, broke into
     its operating system and "crashed" the bulletin board, destroying all of 
     its messages naming me.  The board is back up now,  with  a  retrial  in
     full swing.    But  then,  exile  from  the electronic underground looks
     better all the time.  
  
  
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