[Coco] Newest Nitros9 and B&B

[Joel Ewy]

The boot module isn't the same thing as a driver module.  It is a  module that is involved in booting the system off a disk of some sort,  getting things set up, and then passing control off to the  kernel.  Since it is operating before the system is completely  loaded, it doesn't have the benefit of being able to use the regular  disk device driver, so it needs to know how to access the disk  itself.  The stock Boot module that came with the original OS-9  sysetm master disks only knew how to boot OS-9 from a floppy, using  Tandy's disk controller, or a compatible one.  The boot.burke boot  module must know how to load the rest of (Nitr)OS-9 from the B&B  hard drive interface.  But once the OS gets loaded, boot isn't  called again unless you hit reset.  One of the modules it loads  from the HD must be a proper driver for the B&B interface.
  
  JCE

leonard <leonard23 at verizon.net> wrote:  Ok...Another question.  If I install the boot module, then all I need is the
device descriptor?  Like h0, h1?  I do have them, but since the Os-9
operating system has been optimized for the 6309 I assumed the software for
the B&B needed to be as well.  I do own the original disks for the
controller.  When the superboard becomes available I won't have to worry
about any of this stuff.  Hallelujah!!  I'm frothing at the bit for that,
but for now I have to work with what I have.  It will be worth the wait I'm
sure!  The good thing out of all this is that I learned how to get a dsk
image onto a real coco disk and learning is what it's all about for me.

Thanks to everybody for all the help.

Leonard


-----Original Message-----
From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Joel Ewy
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 11:30 AM
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [Coco] Newest Nitros9 and B&B

Robert Gault  wrote:>leonard wrote:
>> ... where do I find the
>> drivers for the Burke & Burke hard drive?  I found something called
>> boot.burke that was located in the modules directory under 
  >> 6309/level2.  I
>> guess what I'm saying is that I do not understand what all the stuff is 
  >> on the disk.  ...

>There may not yet be any good installation docs for NitrOS-9 but you 
>should check the site. ...the docs need to be improved and they are 
  >being worked on.
>
>Boot.burke is the boot module for  use with a B&B controller. There >ought
also to be a module in  the RBF directory for the B&B controller 
  >but there isn't...
>
>Some of the drivers are available if you get the source code for the 
>NitrOS-9 project and compile it. Some hard disk drivers are being sold 
>by Cloud-9.
>
>However,  any hardware that you own should come with the needed >drivers
and  descriptors which can be used when os9gen-ing a NitrOS-9
  >disk. You should not need the NitrOS-9 distribution to provide you with 
  >drivers for Coco hardware that you previously bought.
This  is true, assuming that 10-20 year old drivers assembled for the 6809
version of OS-9 still work on current versions of NitrOS-9.  I'm  not saying
they won't, because I haven't done enough experimenting with  it yet.  But
it may be a consideration.  
  
  Is there any clearly defined way one could contribute to the documentation
effort?
  
  JCE
  

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