[Coco] Christmas Wish Device

Aaron Wolfe aawolfe at gmail.com
Wed Dec 7 17:50:11 EST 2011 

In the end, it's hard to get around the fact that the 6809 uses 16
bits for addressing.  No matter what happens behind the scenes, your
machine instructions are always going to be using 16 addresses and
manipulating the same 64k of address space.

You could definitively write a sort of PEEK and POKE for basic, or a
routine in asm, that allowed a virtual 32 bit address space, mapping
locations onto a CF card via the SuperIDE, or some new hardware if it
were created.  It really wouldn't be difficult to do.  The "super
poke" would then just load the sector containing the desired 32 bit
location into the 64k space somewhere, much like LPEEK and LPOKE use
the GIME to map chunks of ram into the 64k space.

To take your example and change it to such a design:

 LDX    #AddrHi
 LDY    #addrLo
 JSR    SuperPeek  // SuperPeek grabs byte at virtual address
indicated by X,Y and returns value in A
 INCA                'increment that value
 JSR   SuperPoke  // SuperPoke stores value in A at virtual address X,Y

This could be done right now with the superIDE and a couple fairly
small asm routines.

-Aaron


On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 3:58 PM, Robert Hermanek
<rhermanek at centurytel.net> wrote:
> I guess I like the idea of some kind of memory, could be flash or RAM chips
> in a cart, whatever is easiest since persistence isn't necessary...
>
> And I'd like to be able to use it as directly as any other memory addresses
> in the computer (understanding of course that whatever peek and poke style
> routines I created might have to fiddle with I/O registers a bit.)
>
> Simplest explanation is:  from code I'd like to be able to take a byte value
> like 65 for the letter 'A' and store it at memory location 2000000 if I feel
> like it.  you know...
>
> LDX    #AddrHi
> LDY    #addrLo
>
> STX    MemCtrlHiReg
> STY    MemCtrlLoReg
>
> LDA    MemValReg            'load value from cart RAM
> INCA                'increment that value
> STA    MemValReg            'and store it back in cart RAM
>
> ...etc.  Don't want to think about disks.  Or blocks, or anything, just want
> lots of memory locations.  And yeah there would be no reason to use flash,
> better would be 4 megs of onboard RAM chips right inside the cart, since a
> 32 bit address give you access to what, 3 billion+ memory locations...
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe at gmail.com>
>
> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 2:26 PM
>
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Christmas Wish Device
>
>
>> Sorry if I'm being dense (its a specialty of mine), but what is the
>> purpose of using compact flash etc as a "ramdisk" if you can already
>> use it as a regular disk with actual decb and os9 commands?  And what
>> is the purpose of having more than 512K of ram, if not to use it as a
>> ram disk?
>>
>> There is some possibility the superIDE could be used in the way
>> desired, but I'm not sure.  You could certainly treat is as a linear
>> blob of 256 byte sectors without a filesystem.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 2:21 PM, Paulo Lindoso <paulo.lindoso at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> As far as I read the documentation, it acts as a disk device, but the
>>> rest
>>> of the community can jump in to help!
>>>
>>> Your idea is in a way much more interesting, specially if accompanied by
>>> some sort of RAMDisk implementation mixed up with RAM extension... One
>>> could probably put ALL CoCo stuff in the "RAMDisks" and "transfer" them
>>> to
>>> RAM with simple DECB-like or OS-9-like commands... It would be very cool.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Paulo.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 5:02 PM, Robert Hermanek
>>> <rhermanek at centurytel.net>wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm not familiar with the SuperIDE but I know it has a CF slot, right?
>>>> Is
>>>> the CF card exposed in some direct fashion via registers/etc like I
>>>> described below, or do you have to access it through disk controller
>>>> functions as a disk device?
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paulo Lindoso" <
>>>> paulo.lindoso at gmail.com>
>>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 11:36 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Christmas Wish Device
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As for my wishlist, I have already ordered from Cloud9 my SuperIDE
>>>>>
>>>>> interface which will hopefully fulfill my "quick 'n' dirty" two-way
>>>>> method
>>>>> of exchanging files to and from my Mac... :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Second on the list would come the RAM cartridge Robert suggests...
>>>>> Excellent idea! Actually made me want to dig out my electronics skills
>>>>> to
>>>>> work out an initial hack... Shouldn't be too difficult... Let me see if
>>>>> my
>>>>> memory is still worth anything.
>>>>>
>>>>> Third on the list... I plugged my Coco3 (128K) on the Video/Audio input
>>>>> of
>>>>> a standard LG LCD-TV. Image is cool, but somewhat blurry, probably due
>>>>> to
>>>>> resolution issues... Any ideas on how to improve that?
>>>>>
>>>>> That's my wishlist... :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Paulo.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 3:19 PM, Robert Hermanek
>>>>> <rhermanek at centurytel.net
>>>>> >**wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> If I new anything about electronics I would build this myself. Since
>>>>> I'm
>>>>>>
>>>>>> just a bonehead software developer, I'll post my idea. There's a lot
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> talk about super IDE, coco net, blue tooth, this is all cool stuff.
>>>>>> I'd
>>>>>> love something simpler, just a RAM cartridge.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'd like a cart that I can plug in, then plug flash memory into the
>>>>>> cart,
>>>>>> then access the flash memory as RAM via a few I/O registers. In my
>>>>>> mind
>>>>>> the simplest thing would be setting an "address" using 4 bytes giving
>>>>>> access to a 32 bit space, then when the "address" registers are set,
>>>>>> either
>>>>>> writing to the flash by setting a "value" register, or else reading
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> current value at your chosen address by reading the "value" register.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And that's it. I could plug a 1 gig CF or SD card into this thing and
>>>>>> have all the "RAM" I could ever want. I've done similar things like
>>>>>> trying
>>>>>> to access a drive through my TC^3 as a block of memory, but then
>>>>>> you're
>>>>>> jumping through disk controller hoops. It would be much more fun to be
>>>>>> able to just set the "address" registers and access the flash card as
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> continuous block of memory... and it wouldn't even have to be flash,
>>>>>> since
>>>>>> that's persistent--maybe some kind of true RAM chips in the cart would
>>>>>> be
>>>>>> better?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Somehow I doubt I'll find this in my stocking this year...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Robert
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/**mailman/listinfo/coco<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ------------------------------**------------------------------**-
>>>>> Paulo Lindoso
>>>>> paulo.lindoso at gmail.com
>>>>> http://about.me/pbal<http://**email.about.me/wf/click?c=**
>>>>> e86tqVWFYsEogZdu8cwmbpAZwRtFkP**jZS8Z3nwSDfjU%3D&rp=**
>>>>> TDQggGXPgxMn1%2FQoMR%**2F7Bsr00fO9wne%**2B4zDSBQ93vWI1BH%**
>>>>> 2FOlrnU7zrQ0H0iAWgQyYyB6YfryJh**LcifwbBLZ98yd6yex7cp06Yzq3Q1Sp**
>>>>>
>>>>> lHrq%2FIu7OFPSwv8LqPdUbWL&u=**njPbVRRXSvmg3PMz9cXBSg%2Fh0<http://email.about.me/wf/click?c=e86tqVWFYsEogZdu8cwmbpAZwRtFkPjZS8Z3nwSDfjU%3D&rp=TDQggGXPgxMn1%2FQoMR%2F7Bsr00fO9wne%2B4zDSBQ93vWI1BH%2FOlrnU7zrQ0H0iAWgQyYyB6YfryJhLcifwbBLZ98yd6yex7cp06Yzq3Q1SplHrq%2FIu7OFPSwv8LqPdUbWL&u=njPbVRRXSvmg3PMz9cXBSg%2Fh0>
>>>>> >
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>>
>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/**mailman/listinfo/coco<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>
>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/**mailman/listinfo/coco<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Paulo Lindoso
>>> paulo.lindoso at gmail.com
>>>
>>> http://about.me/pbal<http://email.about.me/wf/click?c=e86tqVWFYsEogZdu8cwmbpAZwRtFkPjZS8Z3nwSDfjU%3D&rp=TDQggGXPgxMn1%2FQoMR%2F7Bsr00fO9wne%2B4zDSBQ93vWI1BH%2FOlrnU7zrQ0H0iAWgQyYyB6YfryJhLcifwbBLZ98yd6yex7cp06Yzq3Q1SplHrq%2FIu7OFPSwv8LqPdUbWL&u=njPbVRRXSvmg3PMz9cXBSg%2Fh0>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Coco mailing list
>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>
>>
>> --
>> Coco mailing list
>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>
>
>
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

More information about the Coco mailing list