[Coco] newb: Can I use DriveWire with my CoCo 2?

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 12:21 AM, Bill Pierce <ooogalapasooo at aol.com> wrote:
>
> Chad,
> I'll try to work on that tomorrow morning. Half of it is already done and I have to gather all the required files
> I think the best way to package it is as a starter kit for DW4 and NOT include the actual DW4 download but keep it on the same page as the DW4 download. That way if Aaron updates DW4, then the download will not be outdated. That is if it's OK with Aaron...
>
> There will have to be separate setups for Coco 1, 2, & 3 as they all use different builds of HDBDOS as well as different drivers for NitrOS-9. This can still all go in one nice neat package with a PDF of installation and operation of each setup ie.. Coco 1 chapter, Coco 2 chapter & Coco 3 chapter And a chapter for special setups like the Becker port & Turbo mode.
> Directions for disk loading and cassette loading as well as how to set it up as a Rom.
> Also detailed instructions for setting up NitrOS-9 to boot from the DW vhd. This seems to be something that's been a problem as well but I won't go into that again :-)
>
> Am I forgetting anything? Looking for suggestions here before I start on the package.
>
> And Aaron... My instruction PDF will start as a Word doc that I can send to you to update the wiki as well.
> Any thoughts?

Sure.  I would caution that the same problems that apply to packaging
DW4 software in a 3rd party package exists with *any* software, to
some degree.
Whenever possible, a link to the maintainer's official site would be
best.  The HDBDOS ROMS, OS9 drivers, etc do get changes from time to
time, and completely new options continue to pop up here and there.
For example I'd love to bring the DW4 functionality that is currently
OS-9 only to DECB as well,
but this would require Yet Another ROM.  CoCoBoot is an awesome new
mechanism that can/will change ROMs and OS9 drivers drastically.  Who
knows what other awesome things are in the works... the only certainty
is that anything you put together will eventually be inaccurate or at
least sub-optimal.

Along with binary blobs changing, sometimes techniques and other
documentation needs to be updated.  A good example is the cable mod
required to use the "DW4" ROMs.  This didn't exist at the time DW4
itself was created, and isn't required to use DW4, but still is of
interest to pretty much everyone.

We must always also remember that personal interest waxes and wanes.
What seems like fun now might easily be a burden next year, real life
nonsense might get in the way of CoCo time, etc.  Whenever possible
try to reduce or eliminate dependency on yourself or specific people.

I would consider using a wiki (whether the existing DW4 wiki or some
other form/site) rather than any static document.  This theoretically
allows others to correct or improve documentation as needed.  In
reality you'll probably be stuck doing it all yourself, but at least
you would have the foundation in place.