IBM ROM BASIC or lack thereof

From: Glen Goodwin <acme_ent_at_bellsouth.net>
Date: Tue Oct 2 23:23:00 2001

> > Since "they never did provide BASIC" then there was *always* "no ROM
> > BASIC." That's like stopping the machine with a message stating "no
> > printer." Why not display something understandable to a common user,
such
> > as "no bootable device?"
>
> Because INT 18h doesn't check for bootable devices. It is the entry to
> ROM BASIC. It may well be that the most common time that it is called is
> from the bootstrap after both floppy and hard disk boots have failed, but

> that doesn't mean it's the only time it can be called.

Tony, are you simply being obstinate here, or didn't you see the above
reference to "common user?" Do you think "common users" -- not to be
disrespectful to plain old computer users -- read BIOS listings???

What I mean to say is: Suzy Six-pack, who ekes out a living typing up MS
Word documents, doesn't know shit about the internals of the machine she
uses.

> Actually, one thing that really annoys me are error messages that don't
> describe the real problem, but only the most likely cause. I need to know

> waht's really going on so that I can fix it. Odd, that....

Yes, and even more odd is that you fail to see that "no bootable device" at
power-up actually does describe the problem, whereas "no ROM BASIC" does
not, since the system in question would never call INT 18h if a bootable
device were available (unless some insane programmer called it, and I
seriously doubt that you can show me a commercially available program which
does this).

Glen
0/0
Received on Tue Oct 02 2001 - 23:23:00 BST