[Coco] [Fwd: Re: The Definitive Post on the CC-Five ;)]

[Mark McDougall]

Joel Ewy wrote:

> Provide the CoCo expansion port and one could just plug in a
> legacy floppy controller.  

Yes, but it'd also be nice not to *need* a floppy controller either. And the 
option for using 3 1/2" drives, for example.

> And if you could implement a controller for it that is
> register-compatible with the WD FDC, then you could fool BASIC into
> thinking it was talking to a floppy controller, as has been discussed
> previously.  

Exactly.

> Maybe Cloud 9 could spin off the ethernet
> adapter from the SuperBoard into an external network card that could
> plug into a CoCo bus.  I don't know.  Just thinking about duplication of
> effort.

While on the subject, I also propose that Cloud 9 hardware be included in 
the "backwards compatibility" category for the Five. Anything that serves to 
increase the back-catalogue of usable hardware/software is a plus.

BTW - and I'd be interested in James' opinion on this - but getting a good 
start (i.e. implementation of a Coco 1/3) really needn't be all that far off 
- it's certainly not "pie in the sky" stuff. My project, for example, is 
lacking just a complete 6847 implementation - something which has already 
been done, BTW...
<http://www.howell1964.freeserve.co.uk/logic/acorn_atom_project.htm>

Some of the features we've discussed can also leverage of IP from opencores 
and other sources. USB, ATA(IDE), SPI - all freely available now.

For my part, it's just a matter of finding the time to dedicate to finishing 
off what I have started. My problem is that I've got too many "projects" on 
the boil - albeit all FPGA-related - and the Coco is just one of my many 
interests. Right now I'm developing some related hardware in my spare time, 
and have someone waiting on me, so I don't get much chance to play with the 
Coco. Not to mention I'm half-way through implementing the protection in 
Scramble, I've been meaning to re-attempt to port Donkey Kong to my 
board(s), I also recently decided to have a stab at a basic NES, my 
partner-in-crime is writing Dreamcast and Gamecube controller firmware, 
aarrgghh!! I'm sure it's not the most efficient way to do things, but I 
can't help it. :(

With enough momentum, I think we can get the ball rolling...

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"