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

[Bill Pierce]

Aaron, That's part of the problem... there are no "maintainers" for most of the stuff needed. I would just link a site to the HDBDOS roms... but where? Sure, a couple of people have them on obscure "fan" sites, but there's no official repo other than the sources. The NitrOS-9 part will just be a demo to get people started.

The whole point is hardly anyone (including me) wants to have to go to 20 websites and download a bunch of files just to be able to run their Coco. This is the very reason a lot of people have not done it and probably won't. Unless the can get a booster... a starter kit.

Yes, Software changes, but it always has. It didn't stop us from posting it then and it shouldn't now. It can always be updated.... if it's somewhere publicly known and accessible so that it CAN be updated.

The idea is a starter kit. Not THE definitive Coco/HDBDOS/NitrOS9/DW4 package to beat all packages, but a simple yet complete package with everything needed to start the CURRENT state of the DW4/HDBDOS/NitrOS9 experience. From there will be links to the originals and updates. But WAIT.... Links can change too... Man... why don't we just give up and go home. Leave it all to the programmers... they can just build it and keep it.... NOT! (don't get me started there again :-P )

BTW... The Coco serial to DB-9 & DB-25 cable has been around since the 80s. They used it to network with MSDOS and thier Tandy 1000s, as well as Model 1, 3, & 4 and others. I had one in '95 hooked to my Win 95 machine transferring text files. I didn't have one before then as I had no other computer before then except my Cocos. There's text diagrams of the cable conversion in the MM archives from old messages on Delphi and CIS

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
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E-Mail: ooogalapasooo at aol.com




-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Sun, Sep 22, 2013 12:50 am
Subject: Re: [Coco] newb: Can I use DriveWire with my CoCo 2?


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.

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