Readers’ Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions you would like to see addressed in this column, write to "Readers' Feedback," COMPUTE!, P.O. Box 5406, Greensboro, NC 27403. Due to the volume of mail we receive, we regret that we cannot provide personal answers to technical questions.

Cassette Cacophony

Whenever I save or print a document to tape in Atari SpeedScript 3.0, the computer makes an annoying hiss after the cassette operation has finished. When this happens in BASIC, I just type END to kill the sound. However, that's not possible from SpeedScript, which runs as an AUTORUN.SYS file. I own an Atari 800XL.

- Sepehr Behram

The Atari operating system does not properly reset the sound channels when it finishes input/output operations. One solution would be to turn down the volume control on your TV or monitor, but that makes it impossible to hear the key clicks as you type. Here's a simpler solution: When you hear the noise, turn off your printer and print to it. The hiss stops immediately, and SpeedScript displays the harmless error message Device not present. (Don't forget to turn the printer back on.) This method takes advantage of the fact that the cassette drive and printer use the same Input/Output Control Block (IOCB).