[Coco] Questions about the 502 controller vs the Disto SC II

[Mike Pepe]

Charlie wrote:
> I should be getting a FD-502 controller sometime this week. I want to use it 
> to replace my Disto SC II.
> The reason being the limited space I have for my coco the much more compact 
> 502 controller will be better for me.

The 501 is the better controller in my opinion, but the 502 is fine.

> So first question is this: My Disto has a RSDOS rom with 6ms (seek time I 
> guess). So it works pretty fast under RSDOS.
> Can I move this ROM to the stock 502 controller with no worries?

Maybe. If they're both 28 pin ROMs, then most likely yes. The 24 and 28 
pin varieties used in the CoCo are not socket compatible. I believe the 
502 has a 28-pin socket. Not sure about the SCII

> Also will Nitros9 have the faster seek times with the 502 as I have now with 
> the Disto. I'm not worried about no-wait and all.
> I'd just like the performance to be close is all. What would be the best way 
> to optimize a Nitros9 boot disk so that the 502 and
> my drives perform thier best?

Seek time in that regard is a function of the mode settings in NitrOS9. 
It doesn't matter what the ROM is programmed for.

> Thanks!

Sure. Want to sell me the SC2? :)