[Coco] Serial Connection from Linux to CoCo3

[Don Johnson]

I've grabbed this out the Glenside IDE booting problems thread so it has it's own interest.

On 2010-12-03, at 4:18 PM, gene heskett wrote:

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I am still getting  the cables and converters to add a 5.25" drive to my Linux box for direct copy of the Nitros .dsk images to a floppy, but in the mean time I am attempting this connection and have some questions...

>>> If it helps any, my web pages have disk images that IF you have a
>>> floppy controller, something like the linux 'dd' command can write
>>> these to a 3.5" or 5.25" 360k floppy disk.  Various operating systems
>>> have various tools for this.  For my own lashup here, my ASUS
>>> motherboards floppy controller does not do 256 byte/sector disk
>>> formats, so I am forced to run a session of minicom on this linux
>>> box, to a shell running against my deluxe 232 pack, so I am logged
>>> into the coco from here, and can then run rz/sz to move this stuff
>>> back and forth.
>> 
>> Okay this may have potential as I do have a mini232 pack here from
>> CoNect that I can use.  Of course I have no experience in this form of
>> communication between a Linux box and the CoCo3, but I should have all
>> the parts.   I different task than this thread, but do you have any
>> instructions on how you set this up?

As a preface:  I have put my Mini232 pak into slot 1 of the MPI and connected it with a serial cable, null modem, and DB25 to DB9 adapter to the Linux box.  I am running Ubuntu 10.10 on the LInux box, and for interests sake I have found the port at /dev/ttyS0.

I am not currently running Nitros9, just OS-9 Level II.


>> 
> Set both interfaces to 9600 baud,

done

> start a "shell -i /t2 &" w/o the quotes 
> on the coco,

done

> install minicom on the linux box, run it with "minicom -s", 

done

> find the modem strings section and zero that out

done.  Set the init string to "0", set the reset string to "0".  Not sure if that is what you meant, but erasing everything didn't have the same success in seeing a online status.  I might have changed things sense I did this that may have resulted in the success, but unless I have reason to believe otherwise I have saved these two settings as default as I did get a limited amount of success.

> , then select the linux port 
> (you'll have to be root to access the port).  

done, and tested (got the right port :) )

> You will probably want to 
> also set minicom to make it use the coco's cr as a lf and vice versa, 
> should be in the port config menu's someplace.

I think this is in the macro settings, but not sure if I have the correct macro set up.

> 
> If successful after exiting the config stuff (save it when it works) then you 
> should see a prompt from the coco that resembles this when the enter key is 
> pressed on your keyboard:
> 
> {t2|07}/DD/NITROS9/3.2.9:

Okay now this is not happening.  I see no prompt, but I do have the status bar saying I am online, which also tells me how many minutes I have been online.  Now I know I am connected because if I interrupt the shell on the CoCo3 and direct a command to the /T2 device it will appear on the minicom screen, but I can't seem to get a prompt or anything on the minicom when I simply direct the shell to /T2.  Typing an OS-9 command on the minicom screen will also, not get a response, which does not surprise me because I have no prompt, but I thought it would be worth a shot.

Right now the connection is there, but the communication seems to be only one way, and not the way I want it.  I'd like to be able to initiate a command on the CoCo from linux (or initiate a Linux command from the CoCo, but wouldn't that require a login?)


-Don



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