9 Jun
1997
9 Jun
'97
1:16 p.m.
At 18:08 09/06/97 -0400, you wrote:
On Mon, 2 Jun 1997, George Lin wrote:
1541 to PC
its in the DOX on C64s Emulator, Use a util on the PC called
Star Commander and copy stright to a real 1541. Easy!!! If you need more
info Mail ME..
Steve
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
At 11:24 PM 6/1/97 -0700, you wrote:
This reminds me... I also have a Z80 cartridge for the C64. But it's not
the one from Commodore. It's from a company called DATA 20 Corporation.
I haven't been able to get it to work. It has what looks like a connector
for a power supply on the back, but I didn't get the PS with it. It also
came without any disks, though it did have a cassette in the box with it,
which says "Use side A for Commodore 64/Use side B for VIC 20".
It's a Z-80 Video Pak, that combines the Z80 processor AND an 80-column
display adapter into one (big fat) cartridge.
To quote from the box:
The Z-80 Video Pak brings the convenience of an 80 column screen and
the power of a CP/M compatible operating system to the Commodore 64.
Designed to be used with a monitor, the Z-80 Video Pak lets the
Commodore 64 owner switch to a 40 or 80 column screen in black and
white, or back to the standard color screen. All switching is done
through software and no cables need to be moved.
The Z-80 Video Pak has its own Z-80 microprocessor and operating
system which allows the 64 to run CP/M software formatted for the
Commodore 1541 disk drive. A Terminal mode which brings communication
with central data bases is included at no extra cost. The Z-80 Video
Pak also supports the advanced screen handling features of all Video
Pak models such as erase to the end of line, erase to end of screen,
and dump screen to printer.
If anyone out there knows this thing's power requirements (AAAGH! Another
wall-wart!) and where to get CP/M disks in 1541 format, please tell. :)
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
CPM DISKS Easy Download em from the net, make a 1541 lead to connect the <...>
I just tried it yesterday. Pretty cool. The Z80 is in the cartridge. The
package comes with a CP/M 2.2 diskette for 1541 and a condensed CP/M manual
by Commodore (copyright 1983). There is a K-Mart price tag on the original
box that reads $54. Not bad. accessories including a CP/M cartridge for C64
A CP/M _carthridge_? Awesome. 
13 Jun
13 Jun
1:10 a.m.
On Mon, 9 Jun 1997, steve wrote:
CPM DISKS Easy Download em from the net, make a 1541
lead to connect the
1541 to PC its in the DOX on C64s Emulator, Use a util on the PC called
Star Commander and copy stright to a real 1541. Easy!!! If you need more
info Mail ME..
Of course this all assumes that I *have* a PC.
However, if the CP/M disks simply contain files and don't use the normal
CP/M disk structure, I can transfer the files via the parallel<->user port
cable I have.
Otherwise I guess I'll have to write a disk image transfer program using
the modem like I did with the Apple ][. (I don't know how to do the
programming for the parallel cable, and phone cable is pysically much
easier to set up as I don't have to move any machines.)
I have to get the hardware to work before I worry about disks, though.
Steve
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
14 Jun
14 Jun
1:32 p.m.
At 06:10 13/06/97 -0400, you wrote:
On Mon, 9 Jun 1997, steve wrote:
22DISK allows you to convert, format and manipulate diskettes in over 450
CP/M formats to and from DOS files. Your old CP/M machine may be gone, but
you can read its diskettes in the drives of your PC-compatible. Some
formats will require a 1.2M diskette drive; a very few will require a
diskette controller that handles single-density diskettes. An ASCII
diskette description drive allows "roll your own" specifications for
hard-to-find or proprietary systems.
CPM DISKS Easy Download em from the net, make a
1541 lead to connect the
1541 to PC its in the DOX on C64s Emulator, Use a util on the PC called
Star Commander and copy stright to a real 1541. Easy!!! If you need more
info Mail ME..
Of course this all assumes that I *have* a PC.
However, if the CP/M disks simply contain files and don't use the normal
CP/M disk structure, I can transfer the files via the parallel<->user port
cable I have.
Otherwise I guess I'll have to write a disk image transfer program using
the modem like I did with the Apple ][. (I don't know how to do the
programming for the parallel cable, and phone cable is pysically much
easier to set up as I don't have to move any machines.)
I have to get the hardware to work before I worry about disks, though. DO YOU WANA COPY???
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
2:49 p.m.
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text
Size: 1607 bytes
Desc: not available
Url :
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19970614/fcaaa067/at…
19 Jun
19 Jun
1:57 a.m.
On Sat, 14 Jun 1997, steve wrote:
At 06:10 13/06/97 -0400, you wrote:
<snip>
>Of course this all assumes that I *have* a PC.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
<snip>
22DISK allows you to convert, format and manipulate
diskettes in over 450
CP/M formats to and from DOS files. Your old CP/M machine may be gone, but
you can read its diskettes in the drives of your PC-compatible. Some
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
formats will require a 1.2M diskette drive; a very few
will require a
diskette controller that handles single-density diskettes. An ASCII
diskette description drive allows "roll your own" specifications for
hard-to-find or proprietary systems.
Please stop assuming I've joined the Evil Empire. My only PC compatibles
are my A1060 Sidecar on my Amiga 1000, which no longer has a 5.25" floppy
drive as I put a hard drive in its bay, and a Tandy 1000EX, which has no
way of communicating with anything else that I own because ALL it has is
a 360K floppy drive.
Besides, I was talking about CP/M for the Commodore 1541 drive. That's a
multi-speed drive that uses GCR encoding, not MFM. Try writing THAT with
22DISK on your PC-clone.
IMHO, someone should write software like 22DISK for the Amiga, as it can
read/write MFM and GCR, and do some other weird things that PC-clone
floppy controllers can't do (like read Amiga disks, for example ;) ).
>DO YOU WANA COPY???
I already have a copy, actually, but nothing to use it on at the moment.
Thanks for the offer anyway.
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
Emulators can be fun, but I've never met an emulator that was as good as
the real thing. Excepting Macintosh emulators, of course. :)
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
5:29 a.m.
New subject: Good Emulators & floppies (was: C64 CP/M carts (was:...))
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, Doug Spence said:
Please stop assuming I've joined the Evil Empire.
My only PC compatibles
are my A1060 Sidecar on my Amiga 1000, which no longer has a 5.25" floppy
drive as I put a hard drive in its bay, and a Tandy 1000EX, which has no
way of communicating with anything else that I own because ALL it has is
a 360K floppy drive.
"Evil Empire?" == Use the Farce, Duke! == First, if you have an Atari ST,
(and I think TOS 1.4 or above... getting my ST next weekend! Wheeeee! ;-)
it can read/write/format PC floppies.
Second, if the EX's drive controller can handle double-sided drives,
replace the SSDD drive with a DSDD one and get 720K storage, and the
capability to read other 720K floppies...
BTW, you mentioned in the original post that you own a 1541 C= drive...
would you like to hook that up to the EX? There's a way to run that drive
thru the serial port, takes a 1 or 2 chip converter board, and I've seen
the dox on this... but I'm not a Commie fan (sorry... had to say that ;^)
but ISTR that the circuit is very similar to the one used to hook up the
Atari 8-bit series drives (810 / 1050 / Indus, etc.) to an IBM as well.
Emulators can be fun, but I've never met an
emulator that was as good as
the real thing. Excepting Macintosh emulators, of course. :)
Well, given your disliking of PC-Clones, you obviously have not heard about
Jeff Vavasour's emulators that run on the Intel platform.
He's got emulators for the Tandy Model 1, 3 and 4, and the Tandy Color
Computer 2 and 3. I ran the CoCo 2 emulator (freeware) and liked it so
much, that I bought ($25-shareware) the CoCo 3 emulator... and ***Love***
it! I have full info on this program for any CoCoNuts out there, and
remember: Just 'cause you ain't seen it, don't mean it ain't there!
I've
got the fastest CoCo in the area! (Running the emu on a P150+... Whoohoo!!!
;-)
Anyway, gotta go, and have fun emulating!
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
20 Jun
20 Jun
4:31 a.m.
New subject: Good Emulators & floppies (was: C64 CP/M carts (was:...))
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Roger Merchberger wrote:
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep
deprivation, Doug Spence said:
I don't have an ST (yet) but my Amigas (Amigae? :) ) handle PC double-
density floppies very well (I've even been able to read MS-DOS formatted
Zip disks).
Now if only I could find an A1020 5.25" floppy drive for them...
Please stop assuming I've joined the Evil
Empire. My only PC compatibles
are my A1060 Sidecar on my Amiga 1000, which no longer has a 5.25" floppy
drive as I put a hard drive in its bay, and a Tandy 1000EX, which has no
way of communicating with anything else that I own because ALL it has is
a 360K floppy drive.
"Evil Empire?" == Use the Farce, Duke! == First, if you have an Atari ST,
(and I think TOS 1.4 or above... getting my ST next weekend! Wheeeee! ;-)
it can read/write/format PC floppies. Second, if the EX's drive controller can handle
double-sided drives,
replace the SSDD drive with a DSDD one and get 720K storage, and the
capability to read other 720K floppies...
That would be cool, and might actually make the EX useful. :) (Though not
for reading CP/M disks with 22DISK.)
There's something oddly enticing about a PC-clone with 256K and CGA, in a
console-style case. (I'm actually quite fond of the EX, even if neglect it
most of the time.)
BTW, you mentioned in the original post that you own a
1541 C= drive...
would you like to hook that up to the EX? There's a way to run that drive
thru the serial port, takes a 1 or 2 chip converter board, and I've seen
the dox on this... but I'm not a Commie fan (sorry... had to say that ;^)
but ISTR that the circuit is very similar to the one used to hook up the
Atari 8-bit series drives (810 / 1050 / Indus, etc.) to an IBM as well.
Actually, the project I've been wanting to build (and I really should do
it now that I have some free time) is the one to connect the 1541 to the
Amiga's parallel port.
But there's a device that plugs into the (non-classic) A1200's IDE
connector that allows use of the 1541, as well as standard PC high density
3.5" drive mechs. I'm considering killing two birds with one stone with
that device... but it's so rare that I actually buy NEW hardware
<shivver>. ;)
Oh, and the EX doesn't _have_ a serial port. It uses PCB edge connectors
anyway, on the ports it does have. I'd need the pinouts for the EX's
ports before I'd play with it in that way.
<snip>
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
19 Jun
19 Jun
6:29 a.m.
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Doug Spence wrote:
There's something fun about running a TRS-80 (or other 8-bit) emulator
under a PC emulator on a Unix box. Levels of abstraction...
--
Ward Griffiths
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within
the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe
Please stop assuming I've joined the Evil Empire.
My only PC compatibles
are my A1060 Sidecar on my Amiga 1000, which no longer has a 5.25" floppy
drive as I put a hard drive in its bay, and a Tandy 1000EX, which has no
way of communicating with anything else that I own because ALL it has is
a 360K floppy drive.
Whaddaya mean the 1000EX can't communicate. It's got a serial port.
Where's your null-modem? The single most important tool in the _world_
for anybody with incompatible systems. Even when I was a child of thirty
with a Color Computer, a TRS-80 4P, a TRS-80 Mod 16, a Tandy 2000 and an
AT&T 3B1, my null-modems were the only to move stuff. (It was also the
best way to use the Tandy 2000 for its two purposes: terminal to the
Xenix and Unix boxes -- great keyboard -- and as a 512k serial/parallel
converter and print buffer between the other machines and my sole MX-80
printer).
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
Emulators can be fun, but I've never met an emulator that was as good as
the real thing. Excepting Macintosh emulators, of course. :) 
6:59 a.m.
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Ward Griffiths and/or Lisa Rogers wrote:
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Doug Spence wrote:
IIRC, it in fact does _not_ have a serial port! There was a serial card
available using the proprietary expansion bus. Good luck finding one of
those now.
My memories are actually of the 1000HX, which I believe was basically the
same thing but with 3.5" drive instead of 5.25" (And maybe more RAM?)
ttfn
srw
Please stop assuming I've joined the Evil
Empire. My only PC compatibles
Whaddaya mean the 1000EX can't communicate. It's got a serial port. 
5:10 a.m.
On 19-Jun-97, Scott Walde wrote:
My memories are actually of the 1000HX, which I believe
was basically the
same thing but with 3.5" drive instead of 5.25" (And maybe more RAM?)
The EX and HX had basically the same innards, though as you mentioned, the
HX had two 3-1/2" drive bays above the keyboard, the left one filled with a
720k floppy from the factory. The HX had the same expansion bus as well, and
used the same 'PLUS' style cards. It came stock out of the box with only 256k
RAM and no DMA capability. The DMA wasn't added until you added the PLUS
Memory expansion, which also added a connector for two more PLUS cards. The
interesting thing about the HX was that it contained the bare essentials of
MS-DOS 2.11 in ROM, which acted as drive C:, or you could also boot straight
to Deskmate as well. I've got the Tech Ref manual here for it still, along
with the ones for the Model 2000 and Model 4/4P.
The HX was the first PC I bought, and it eventually had the PLUS style
memory card, serial card, and 1200 bps modem, as well as an external 5-1/4"
floppy. I used this system for calling all the local BBS's, and even did all
the work in configuring and testing my own BBS on it. I was able to keep the
setup of QuickBBS I had small enough to run off just the two floppy drives!
Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga enthusiast and collector of early, classic microcomputers
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
10:30 a.m.
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Scott Walde wrote:
IIRC, it in fact does _not_ have a serial port! There
was a serial card
available using the proprietary expansion bus. Good luck finding one of
those now.
My memories are actually of the 1000HX, which I believe was basically the
same thing but with 3.5" drive instead of 5.25" (And maybe more RAM?)
I recently picked up both a 1000EX and 1000HX from thrift shops. I'll
take a look at both for the hell of it and report back what I find out
about them. I have some add-on cards for each. Jeff Hellige also has a
1000HX. He might know something about them.
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
5:27 a.m.
On 19-Jun-97, Sam Ismail wrote:
I recently picked up both a 1000EX and 1000HX from
thrift shops. I'll
take a look at both for the hell of it and report back what I find out
about them. I have some add-on cards for each. Jeff Hellige also has a
1000HX. He might know something about them.
Actually Sam, I HAD a 1000HX! I still think it's a nifty machine though,
and left what info I could concerning the thread.
Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga enthusiast and collector of early, classic microcomputers
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
1:12 p.m.
IIRC, it in fact does _not_ have a serial port! There
was a serial card
available using the proprietary expansion bus. Good luck finding one of
those now.
IIRC, that expansion bus was pin-pin compatible with a stadard 8-bit ISA
connector. It should be possible to kludge up an adapter cable (keep it as
short as possible) to use a normal PC serial card in the EX. Trace the
ground and power lines to figure out which way round the connector is, and
which side is which.
ttfn
srw
--
-tony
ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
5:16 a.m.
On 19-Jun-97, A.R. Duell wrote:
IIRC, that expansion bus was pin-pin compatible with a
stadard 8-bit ISA
connector. It should be possible to kludge up an adapter cable (keep it as
short as possible) to use a normal PC serial card in the EX.
Actually, it should be, as I recall a couple companies doing just that so
that they could mount small hard disk controllers in the EX/HX expansion area,
though the problem then is getting the card to fit. There was even one
vendor, called Howard Medical, I believe, that managed to squeeze a hard disk
into the 2nd floppy bay.
Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amiga enthusiast and collector of early, classic microcomputers
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
1:10 p.m.
Where's your null-modem? The single most
important tool in the _world_
for anybody with incompatible systems. Even when I was a child of thirty
The second most useeful tool is a 'Christmas Tree' - one of those little
RS232 adapters with red and green lights for the most important signals
(TxD, RxD, RTS, CTS, DSR, DTR and CR). They sell for about \pounds 12.00
(say < $20.00) in the UK.
Although I have a good breakout box, a data error rate tester and a
Tektronix Datacoms analyser, I use the 'Christmas Tree' a lot more than
any of the other serial testers. It's small, convenient, and if it does go
walkabout, I can afford to replace it.
It's useful for figuring out if you need a null-modem cable (what pins are
inputs and what are outputs), what handshake lines are in use, etc.
Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
Emulators can be fun, but I've never met an emulator that was as good as
the real thing. Excepting Macintosh emulators, of course. :) Ward Griffiths
--
-tony
ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
10:38 a.m.
New subject: A Report: "Why I Like Emulators"
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, A.R. Duell said:
I really don't see the interest in emulators if the
real hardware still
exists. I'd much rather have the real thing, and have all the fun of
maintaining it, than have a piece of software (probably without source)
running on a PC that I can't get spare chips for. Perhaps it's because I'm
a hardware hacker, but emulators seem to lack so much compared to the
phyusical machine.
For me:
Speed & functions, pure and simple. Altho I'm designing my CoCo3 benchmark
to see just how many Mhz-like CoCo my P150+ makes, think about this scenario:
This cycle takes me 10-20 minutes(depending on # of changes) on my real CoCo3:
Boot assembler/editor from disk,
load program,
make changes to program,
assemble program in mem, <--|
correct errors if necessary, --|
save program,
assemble program to disk,
reboot machine (to start with clean slate),
set up environment (clear ML memory, etc.)
LOADM program,
EXEC program,
Watch Program die, lock up system (this is ML, you know ;-),
reboot machine again, to recover from lockup,
start cycle over.
On my P150+ with emulated floppies on the hard drive, and the emulator also
has the ability to save a snapshot of your entire environment, this cycle
has been reduced to 1-4 minutes (depending on number of changes) making ML
programming worthwhile (no thumb-twiddling) and I plan on writing some ML
proggies for my wife & kids to use that I can burn into eprom and set up on
a CoCo for them.
Roughly guesstimating, I now have a 40 Mhz CoCo3 sitting on my hard drive
at home... :-)
Also, I plan on getting a CD-RW (that's re-writable!) within the next two
weeks, and I plan on archiving all my software on CD-R... cain't do that on
a CoCo! ;^>
HTH,
"Merch"
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
4:44 p.m.
New subject: A Report: "Why I Like Emulators"
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, A.R. Duell said:
I think we're rather missing each other's points here. There's nothing at
all 'wrong' with using an emulator as an aid to writing software or
whatever to run on a classic computer. I know plenty of people who've used
the PDP11 emulator to do just that. And I used one of the PDP8 emulators
to try things on when I was rebuilding some bits of my 8/e.
But too many people (not on this list, thankfully :-)) seem to regard the
emualtor as a _replacement_ for preserving the hardware. This is what I
commenting on...
I really don't see the interest in emulators
if the real hardware still
exists. I'd much rather have the real thing, and have all the fun of
maintaining it, than have a piece of software (probably without source)
running on a PC that I can't get spare chips for. Perhaps it's because I'm
a hardware hacker, but emulators seem to lack so much compared to the
phyusical machine.
For me:
Speed & functions, pure and simple. Altho I'm designing my CoCo3 benchmark
to see just how many Mhz-like CoCo my P150+ makes, think about this scenario:
This cycle takes me 10-20 minutes(depending on # of changes) on my real CoCo3:
On the ground that I have the world's slowest PC, I suspect my CoCo 3
would in fact be faster than the emulator. Add an 6809 In-circuit emulator
(no, I don't have one yet, but I'm looking...) and I _know_ it would be
faster.
Also, I plan on getting a CD-RW (that's
re-writable!) within the next two
weeks, and I plan on archiving all my software on CD-R... cain't do that on
a CoCo! ;^>
Give me one good reason why not? It should be _trivial_ to use a 5380 or
something like it to make a SCSI cartridge for the CoCo. Add an OS-9
device driver and you should be able to burn CDs....
HTH,
"Merch"
--
-tony
ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
11:31 a.m.
New subject: A Report: "Why I Like Emulators"
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, A.R. Duell said:
Reason? OK. 2 words: Buffer Underrun. If you can't keep the buffer of the
CD-ROM recorder full, you now have an instant "5-inch Digital Dog
Frisbee"(TM) and I don't think a CoCo (8-bit, 1.78Mhz) has enough bandwidth
to keep the buffer full -- remember, the CoCo would have to pull the data
> >I really don't see the interest in
emulators if the real hardware still
> >exists. I'd much rather have the real thing.....
I think we're rather missing each other's
points here. There's nothing at
all 'wrong' with using an emulator as an aid to writing software or
whatever to run on a classic computer. I know plenty of people who've used
the PDP11 emulator to do just that. And I used one of the PDP8 emulators
to try things on when I was rebuilding some bits of my 8/e.
Ah. Now I see... your first comments on that were a bit vague and I didn't
know that was the point you were trying to make.
But too many people (not on this list, thankfully :-))
seem to regard the
emualtor as a _replacement_ for preserving the hardware. This is what I
commenting on...
Yes, for that, I do agree... emulators are an augmentation and a tool, not
a replacement.
Also, I plan
on getting a CD-RW (that's re-writable!) within the next two
weeks, and I plan on archiving all my software on CD-R... cain't do that on
a CoCo! ;^>
Give me one good reason why not? It should be _trivial_ to use a 5380 or
something like it to make a SCSI cartridge for the CoCo. Add an OS-9
device driver and you should be able to burn CDs.... from a hard drive to put on the CD-R at the same time,
plus OS-9's
overhead, etc.
It would require a dedicated box with lotsa memory & a fast hard drive for
the CoCo to send the data to, so the CD-R drive would have data fast enough
to burn one... Uhhhh, can you say '486+? (or '040+ for you Mac aficionados)
_Reading_ a CD-ROM would be trivial... personally, if there's such a thing
as "impossible for a CoCo" burning a functional CD-R is the closest I've
ever encountered.
HTH,
"Merch"
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
11:38 a.m.
New subject: A Report: "Why I Like Emulators"
At 16:31 19/06/97 -0400, you wrote:
Reason? OK. 2 words: Buffer Underrun. If you can't keep the buffer of the
CD-ROM recorder full, you now have an instant "5-inch Digital Dog
Frisbee"(TM) and I don't think a CoCo (8-bit, 1.78Mhz) has enough bandwidth
to keep the buffer full -- remember, the CoCo would have to pull the data
from a hard drive to put on the CD-R at the same time, plus OS-9's
overhead, etc.
It would require a dedicated box with lotsa memory & a fast hard drive for
the CoCo to send the data to, so the CD-R drive would have data fast enough
to burn one... Uhhhh, can you say '486+? (or '040+ for you Mac aficionados)
_Reading_ a CD-ROM would be trivial... personally, if there's such a thing
as "impossible for a CoCo" burning a functional CD-R is the closest I've
ever encountered.
HTH,
"Merch"
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
O love emulators so much, I have dedicated 1.4 gig to my bbs Emulator BBS
01284 760851
Keeping 8-Bit ALIVE
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep
deprivation, A.R. Duell said:
that on
> >I really don't see the interest in
emulators if the real hardware still
> >exists. I'd much rather have the real thing.....
I think we're rather missing each other's
points here. There's nothing at
all 'wrong' with using an emulator as an aid to writing software or
whatever to run on a classic computer. I know plenty of people who've used
the PDP11 emulator to do just that. And I used one of the PDP8 emulators
to try things on when I was rebuilding some bits of my 8/e.
Ah. Now I see... your first comments on that were a bit vague and I didn't
know that was the point you were trying to make.
But too many people (not on this list, thankfully
:-)) seem to regard the
emualtor as a _replacement_ for preserving the hardware. This is what I
commenting on...
Yes, for that, I do agree... emulators are an augmentation and a tool, not
a replacement.
>> Also, I plan on getting a CD-RW (that's re-writable!) within the next two
>> weeks, and I plan on archiving all my software on CD-R... cain't do
a CoCo! ;^>
Give me one good reason why not? It should be _trivial_ to use a 5380 or
something like it to make a SCSI cartridge for the CoCo. Add an OS-9
device driver and you should be able to burn CDs....
9895
days inactive
9906
days old
18 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
ard12＠eng.cam.ac.uk -
dastar＠crl.com -
ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca -
gram＠cnct.com -
jeffh＠unix.aardvarkol.com -
scott＠saskatoon.com -
shoppa＠alph02.triumf.ca -
steve＠kennard.keme.co.uk -
zmerch＠northernway.net