[Coco] DW3 WireBug mode

[Bill Pierce]

Robert,
There is no "interface" as of yet for HDBDOS and DW4(3). As it stands right now, the HDBDOS Rom area is full and no code can be added, though there is  possibility for some code to be "fudged" into a couple of empty spots. Hopefully in the near future there will be a BASIC cmd (or program) similar to OS-9's "dw" cmd which allows the user to type drivewire cmds directly from the cmdline. In looking through the "dw" cmds as well as the "ui" cmd set, there seems to be no support for "wirebug" to be run as a direct cmd. I think this would have to be done using "low level" bytewise cmds directly through the server. Aaron may know a better way.

Aaron had suggested at one point that maybe someone could alter the basic roms so that the "PRINT#" statement be extended beyond -2 (-3, -4, etc) to reflect the dw ports (N1, N2 ~ N14) so that "PRINT#-3 $DWCMDSTRING" would result in the string being sent to the represented DW port. I think it's a good idea, the problem is finding room in the rom area to put the code. This would allow any DW cmd string to be sent directly to the DW ports from a BASIC program. You could even write a BASIC MIDI program and send the MIDI bytes directly to N14 (DW's midi port). The routines to actually send and recieve the bytes are already in the HDBDOS code. This is how the DW version of Lyra writes Midi data to DW. There's just no way of accessing the routines except through ML.

 I personally would be willing to drop cassette and printer routines to gain the "PRINT#-1" thru "PRINT#-E" to make all the ports equal in naming convention. I can always use Vcc to transfew tape programs to disk and who (but Gene) uses a real printer with the Coco these days?

You could always load an alternate rom if you need the printer or cassette I/O...

Bill Pierce
My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Hermanek <rhermanek at centurytel.net>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Wed, Jul 3, 2013 12:27 pm
Subject: [Coco] DW3 WireBug mode


I was reading the DW3 protocol specification, and was interested in the 
wirebug functions.  In general, coco always initiates transactions, like 
read/write sector.  It appears the general method of using wirebug is 1) 
coco sends command to server indicating it is now in wirebug mode, and 
then sits in wait state 2) server can send multiple commands to coco, 
which can read/write both registers and memory, 3) when done, the server 
needs to send a command to coco to end wirebug and resume execution.

That sounds fine, question is:  I'm an HDBDOS user, how do I place my 
coco3 in wirebug mode?  Is there an EXEC &H(addr) statement to 
accomplish this?

Thanks

-RobertH

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