#Virus ??
25 messages in this thread
Hi all, I gotta real funny thing happening. If I look at the system clock
using preferences it says its the right time. If I look at it using the
SETCLOCK command it also says the correct date and time. The only problem is
that when I save a file it saves it with the4 date Dec 99 9999 99:99. Boy is
that annoying. It means death to my incremental HD backups not to mention its a
tip that something is wrong !!!
I have tried using the StrTc (StartClock) utilitiy but that doesn't seem to
do much for me either.. A new Virus perhaps ??? Any ideas Any suggestions ???
Where is the battery located for the clock in a 2000 ? I have no qualms about
AmigaSurgery as I am comfortable with IC's and th3e like but will it help and
where can I find the battery ???
Lost in time….
eli
eli,
I can't tell you what to do about your clock (though I think that was answered
in a message just a few days ago), but I can tell you that there just isn't
enough ram in the clock to hold a virus – so THAT is not the problem.
Betty
Betty,
thanx for the incredibly speedy reply to my 'virus' question. I never
believed there was a clock virus but what else do you think it could be ??? Any
ideas ??? Anybody I could ask who might know ?
eli
A friend of mine called me about the same problem tonite (from Hawaii!). He
was using SetClock on his A1000, which isn't a good idea. What hardware do you
have? —Mike
Mike,
well, I have a 2000 with 3 megs of ram and a 40 meg hard drive with a GVP
controller card. When I 'list' the files I get the correctly saved date. Its
just when I use diskmaster that the 99 stuff happens. Hmmm….
+ eli
Eli,
I had thought it was DiskMaster that was causing the problem, but I don't
have it, so couldn't be sure. The guy had an A1000, and had opened it up
assuming that the clock battery had died. >sigh<
—Mike
Eli,
For what it's worth, I'm having the same problem on my AMI 1000 with 1
Meg Insider Board and clock. I'm also "viewing" the files via Diskmaster. My
problem seems to have begun right after New Year. <Strange>
BR — Canton, Ohio
Eli,
There is probably a bug in the clock software. Those exact numbers have been
given by others.
Betty
Eli,
Which clock are you running? The built-in one from the 500/2000? The Insider?
Which? That would make a difference to people trying to help you.
Betty
Betty ( and everyone else following this thread)
I am using an a2000 with 3 megs of ram and a GVP hard disk controller with
a miniscribe 40 meg Harddisk. Also my 2000 has two 3.5 drives. There are no
tasks 'runback-ed' and the only thing running is VirusX. Hmm.. naybe thats the
next thing I'll remove.
Also the 99 thing only shows up when I get a dir with DiskMAster. If I
'list' the directories in question I get correct dates. This worries me 'cause
something is wrong. Any more idears??
eli
Eli,
That funny date is a problem with DiskMaster (and other programs)…
they're not properly handling the date conversion routines. It seems that lots
of programs have this problem.
Don
FYI, Progressive became aware of this problem immediately after December
31st… about the same time as the rest of us. 8) The bug has already been
found and squashed. They were planning on an upgrade update later in the year,
but because of this problem they are discussing how to handle an immediate fix
update.
Rick
Rick,
My question is why didn't they become aware of it before they released
the software? Every date routine I've ever written I always test both back and
forth in 'time' to make sure it works over various dates, including leap years,
etc.
Don
Exactly my point (see elsewhere in the thread). Makes you wonder, don't it?
In defense of Progressive, THEY did not write the software (I am told).
DiskMaster is a package written by an independent who built a contract with
PP&S. Granted that PP&S might have done some of their own testing, but it's
really the responsibility of the writer to do this. They may have insisted on
testing, and he/she said "It's thoroughly tested and bug-free". What do you do
in those cases? (Me, I'd ask to see the test logs. But most people don't even
seem to know what a test log IS, let alone keep one.)
Rick
Rick,
Any publisher that puts out a software package had better beta test it
themselves. If they don't….they are just as responsible as the author.
Don
True, and conceeded.
Rick
Eli,
I don't use DiskMaster myself, but several people have reported here and on
Usenet that it has a problem with dates since the new year began. I think that
is where your problem lies. In fact, several very popular programs have turned
out to have date problems this week. There will probably be an update to
correct this soon. In the meantime, can you get along with your system dates?
I don't know another solution if you really need DiskMaster.
Betty
Betty,
No problem in doing w/o diskmasters correct dates. As soon as I realized DM
was the problem I paid it no heed. Seems like a weird thing to happen to a
program as all it has to do is read the date stamp. Oh well, thanx anyway for
all the help. I appreciate it..
eli
Eli,
Some program seems to turn up with this problem almost every January – and
especially when a leap year is involved. Maybe things will go well for the
next three years, at least.
Betty
"when I save a file" what program are you using to 'save' the file?
Vic,
Well, anytime i move,save or makedir thats the date I get. no matter what i
do thats what happens. If I look at the date using the list command the date is
fine. It seems that the 99 thing happens when I look at the files with
diskmaster. Any new files (the animation I am doing) are saved with this date
but only when I view the files using diskmaster. Otherwise they appear to be
alright. Sure, you could say "don't use diskmaster" but something is wrong
somewhere and it bugs me.
eli
Eli, right….something is 'wrong' and it IS diskmaster. I'm sorry, but the
"don't use diskmaster" is currently the only solution.
vic: thanx for the help. Actually as soon as I realized it was diskmaster and
ONLY diakmaster I didn't pay much attention. Everything else reads the dates ok
and that was all I was worried about. Incremental HD backups can be a pain w/o
dates. Anyway thanx for the help…
eli
We're having some strange problems at work with the clocks. Most of the
1000's we've got have insiders, and therefore a battery-backed clock. One one
machine, you type `rtclock' (the command to copy the insider's clock to the
system clock) and it shows the right time, but when you look at the date (with
DATE) it is yesterday!?!? AND, on a machine besides that one, the system date
read Wednesday, Jan _5_ 1989?!? What gives?
— Colin —
Colin,
The clocks on the Insiders are correct, it's the software that reads the
clock that's messed up. When converting from the HW clock internal format to
AmigaDos' number of seconds since Jan 1 1978, #@looses a day between '88 and
'89. My apologies, it's my fault. I tested that code for a few dozen different
possible problem areas, but obviusly missed that one.
In any case, I just uploaded a new version of RTClock to Lib 6, so as soon
as the Sysops get to it, it'll be available. This time I used the builtin date
conversion routines supplied with the Lattice compiler, so with any luck, there
will be no more problems.
-Dean