[Coco] early OS-9 ads/articles compilation

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 10:33 AM, Frank Swygert <farna at att.net> wrote:
> TAPE BASED OS-9?? Come on now! Tape was barely usable with ECB. Anyone doing
> much serious with the CoCo definitely got disk as soon as they could. I did
> some word processing working with tape for a bit over a year before I could
> afford to build a budget disk system (new third party disk controller, 360K
> drives that were pulls, built a case and bought a surplus power supply). I
> was an E-4 in the USAF in 1987 when I did that, with a wife and kid.
> OS-9 in a disk controller ROM makes a lot more sense. The only problem I see
> if that configurations varied. It would still have been a viable option.
> Have the ROM version boot then look for a configuration file/script that
> would load any additional drivers/modules needed. You'd just need some kind
> of configuration program to create the config file. Well, it wouldn't really
> be NEEDED, but that would be the way to go for a system for the masses.
> So why hasn't someone done something like this with NitrOS-9 now? It would
> work well with one of Roger's wireless paks or with Drivewire through a
> bit-banger.
> Speaking of Drivewire and Roger's CoCoNet... Many have a complete Intel/AMC
> PC available to use as a server that they also use for other things. But
> what about those who don't want a hulking case on their desk just for
> drives? Would it be possible to program a PIC or some other minimal board to
> work with one of those? I'm thinking the system could be as little as a
> single half-height hard drive in a full height case. There are some small
> 386 boards that could be used with USB ports that could load software and
> provide for further expansion. All that's needed is a minimal Linux or maybe
> even DOS system to boot and run on it, boot from a USB drive and be able to
> install itself to the hard drive.

While you could certainly run DW on a small PC, you can do even better
than that :)  Drivewire 4, being Java, can run on just about anything
that has a serial or USB port.

Since the user interface is accessed via a web browser and/or directly
via OS-9 commands on the CoCo, there is no need for a display on the
DW server.

I have the server running on a Linksys NSLU2, which is a very small
and inexpensive device sold at Best Buy and such stores.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSLU2

It is only about 4x6x1 inches large, runs off 5vdc.  I've toyed with
the idea of taking the single circuit board inside out of it's plastic
shell and mounting it right inside the CoCo case, seems there would be
room.  Add a wireless USB adaptor and you've got a truly wireless,
self contained solution.

There are several other small routers/NAS devices that could do the
same thing. Another possibility would be re-purposing an old laptop
(especially one with a broken screen) .

-Aaron



>
> ---------------------
> Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:10:21 -0600
> From: Joel Ewy <jcewy at swbell.net>
>
> 3.  I always knew that OS-9 was designed to be "ROMable" but the the
> earliest OS-9 ads, describing a ROM-based system that even supported KC tape
> systems makes me wonder anew why OS-9 on the CoCo wasn't available as a ROM
> PAK with cassette support, at least as one optional configuration.  This was
> Motorola's big idea, and Tandy certainly took to it for games, and even
> applications.  It was certainly technically feasible.  Think how many more
> CoCo users might have gotten into OS-9 if it was available on e.g. a $79.99
> cartridge that could save programs and files on cassette.
>
> --
> Frank Swygert
> Publisher, "American Motors Cars" Magazine (AMC)
> For all AMC enthusiasts
> http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
> (free download available!)
>
>
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>