[Coco] Nitros9 boot fails with HDB DOS in rompak

Thu Oct 10 08:09:02 EDT 2013

When I LOADM RSDOS games they are DSK images. DW4 has HDBDOS translation 
enabled. (It turns that off automatically when the Nitros9 DSK images are 
mounted).

I found my cassette cable with my MC-10 so I'm going to try to cloadm the 
HDBDW3CC3.WAV from my ipod after work today.
I am guessing this will work because everything points to the physical 
rompaks.

When I installed the sockets in the game rompaks (one was Football II the 
other was Super Pitfall) I checked continuity from the socket to the card 
edge for every pin.
I will recheck them again tonight, maybe I broke a solder joint or 
something.

I wonder if anyone has done the same and can confirm it working? Anyone else 
use a game rompak PCB the same way?
Or are they using a different board in a rompak? Didn't cloud-9 used to sell 
a HDB-DOS rompak? Was that as simple as this PCB?

The game PCB is very simple. There are no parts to it. Just a board with 
traces and one resistor (I think) next to the game rom.
I wonder if something on the PCB needs to be modified because the rompak 
itself can only be whats causing it...
I shouldn't say that until I try to tape load HDB-DOS tonight. :)

Still, three 512K coco3's, Rom, Drivewire,  works with a FD502 disk 
controller in place of the rompak. It only doesn't work when the rompak is 
inserted.
Maybe the way the games pcb is "wired" maybe a trace or 2 needs to be 
cut.... hoping someone knows...

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Bill Pierce" <ooogalapasooo at aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 11:58 PM
To: <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Subject: Re: [Coco] Sierra games and DW

>
> Charlie,
> When you run RSDOS games, do you load them from a dsk image indw or a vhd 
> image in dw?
>
> Bill Pierce
> My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
> https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
> Co-Webmaster of The TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
> http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/
> Co-Contributor, Co-Editor for CocoPedia
> http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> E-Mail: ooogalapasooo at aol.com
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charlie Pelosi <chazbeenhad at hotmail.com>
> To: coco list <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Wed, Oct 9, 2013 11:55 pm
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Sierra games and DW
>
>
> Yes, newest version of dw4. Downloaded it today and checked update. All 
> good.
>
> Also remember, the rom and DW work fine when its in a disk controller.
>
> Wouldn'tthat rule out DW?
>
>
>
>
> Sent from Windows Mail
>
>
>
> From: Aaron Wolfe
> Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎October‎ ‎9‎, ‎2013 ‎11‎:‎52‎ ‎PM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 11:08 PM, Charlie Pelosi <chaspelosi at outlook.com> 
> wrote:
>> Hi Aaron. I have three 512K coco3's here all act the same. So it can't be
>> the computer. And DW works fine if the disk controller is in.
>> So it must be something with the ROMPAK and or the ROM I am using. Can
>> someone point me at the exactly .rom file I should burn ?
>
> It really should not matter what ROM you are using as long as its a
> "standard" one..  any DW3 ROM sold by Cloud 9 or provided on their
> website is fine.  You could also use the open source version from the
> Toolshed project, but it has to be one of the "hdbdw3ccX" flavors,
> *not* the ones labeled "hdbdw4ccX" (assuming the sierra disks are
> still using the stock os9 drivers and not the "turbo" flavors, which
> should be true).
>
>> I think the versions I've tried where HDB-DOS 1.4 DW3 coco 3 and the same
>> 1.2 that I got years ago from Boisy.
>
> As long as the bootup message says "DW3" I think you are fine.  All
> the ROM does is load the boot track, after all.  It is not used at all
> once OS9 starts booting.
>
>>
>> When I soldered in the socket, it was a Football II cart, I simply
>> unsoldered the game chip and soldered in the socket.
>> Nothing else. I don't think any soldering is bad because I have two of 
>> these
>> and they both do the same.
>>
>
> You're probably right, I can't imagine it being a soldering or socket 
> issue.
>
> One question, are you sure you're using the latest DW4 server?  It
> should report "4.3.3p" when you enter 'dw server status' in the
> command box at the bottom of the gui.  If it does not, please select
> "Check for new version" from the tools menu and update.
>
>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Aaron Wolfe" <aawolfe at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 10:01 PM
>>
>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Sierra games and DW
>>
>>> On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 7:28 PM, Charlie Pelosi <chaspelosi at outlook.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'm having trouble emailing the list I think because my reply address 
>>>> for
>>>> my Microsoft account is a different alias than the primary I have 
>>>> subscribed
>>>> to the list...
>>>> Hello.
>>>>
>>>> I am trying to play The King's Quest games with a coco3 and drivewire4.
>>>>
>>>> I downloaded KingsQuest1_dw.dsk from http://www.nitros9.org/latest/
>>>> I have a rompak in a COCO3 that has HDB-DOS 1.4 DW3 COCO 3 (Ive tried 
>>>> 1.2
>>>> also)
>>>> I am using the very latest DW4 in Windows.
>>>>
>>>> When I mount the KingsQuest1_dw.dsk in drive 0 and type DOS to start
>>>> Nitros9 starts to boot.
>>>> When it gets to i2xoC and then the coco just hangs sitting there 
>>>> forever
>>>> doing nothing.
>>>>
>>>> Any ideas on what is wrong or how to get this to work?
>>>>
>>>> I tried to send the above earlier and it didn't work. But that worked 
>>>> out
>>>> because in the meantime I discovered something.
>>>>
>>>> If I move the rom chip to an actual FD502 controller the boot gets past
>>>> i2xoC and the game starts.
>>>> So I would guess because Nitros9 is loading a driver or looking for the
>>>> disk hardware.
>>>> So is there a version that doesn't do that so that people loading from 
>>>> a
>>>> simple rompak or even tape can boot these games with DW and enjoy them?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The version you have is not intended to require a disk controller.
>>> Last time I played it, it worked here with just a CoCo 3 and DW3 rom
>>> in a rompak, no additional hardware.  That was a while back, it is
>>> possible some bug has been introduced.  However, Bill is not seeing a
>>> problem currently.  I don't have things set up to test at the moment
>>> but I think it is possible the need for a disk controller on your
>>> system is a side effect of some other problem.  It is definitely not
>>> by design.
>>>
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>>
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