[Coco] CoCoNet status

[Roger Taylor]

At 10:29 PM 12/6/2008, you wrote:
>Roger,
>
>Have you tested this with a CoCo 1?  Recent tests I've done have led
>me to the conclusion that the CoCo 1 hardware is not capable of
>transmitting 57600 bps through the bit banger port, although it can
>receive data at that speed. My guess is that the opamp used for the
>level translation to +/- 12 volts can't operate that fast.  You will
>probably have to lower the transmission speed or specify a CoCo 2 as
>the minimum requirement.
>
>Darren


Noted.  I have two CoCo 1's I will test on tonight.

Btw, CoCoNet was just ROM'ed 5 minutes ago.  The CoCo powers up 
CoCoNet READY!  The ROM is in an EPROM Pak and no real floppy 
controller is connected.  Problem is, it's a 27128 16K EPROM, so I'm 
not sure if this would work in a CoCo 3.

This involved first CLOADM'ing a single-record version of the DOS 
patch which goes into all-RAM mode, patches DOS, executes some init 
routines, then I build the DOS overlay version from the Rainbow IDE, 
mount that virtual disk from the CoCo 2, copy the overlay.rom from 
the virtual disk onto the MPROM floppy disk, etc. etc. it took a 
while to figure out how I was going to do this.  Now that Disk BASIC 
is CoCoNet patched, hopefully the development process will speed up 
greatly more.

I realize that in order to produce CoCoNet that it would compete with 
DriveWire simply because it offers the ability to use virtual disks 
stored on a PC.  What's more, no server interaction is required, and 
the option to use internet disks and import web files into the CoCo 
greatly makes this a completely different system.

Items that were given to me over the past year for development 
purposes were the Super Controller, the MPROM board, and an EPROM 
Pak, and several ROM Pak PCB layouts I might consider when I get a 
run of boards made soon.  Without my development software, the items 
donated, and the fact that I never give up, CoCoNet would remain only 
a what-if.  That what-if is a what-is right now as I turn on the 
CoCo, type DIR, and see the last virtual disk I mounted 30 minutes 
ago, mounted from the CoCo, not the PC.


-- 
Roger Taylor

http://www.wordofthedayonline.com