[Coco] CoCoFEST - Dart Time Sharing System Contest

[Salvador Garcia]

 Thanks for your reply Kip. I meant to send this message to the list, but my mobile device somehow insist on replying to the original sender. I have changed it so that this follow up is received by the group.

I found the documentation that you mentioned. It is here:

http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dartmouth/BASIC_Oct64.pdf

 
Interestingly (or weirdly) enough the error message that I am getting does not appear in the listing that presents the possible errors. So either the documentation neglected to include it or it is a new error message.

I had an unprecedented moment of sanity and found what my problem is. It is the end. (Literally.) It seems that any BASIC program entered into the simulator needs to have an end statement. If it does not then it presents this unusual message.

I also tried following the procedure that you outlined: Hello, system basic and new, but this did not help. In fact from what I was able to figure out the login and system basic commands are optional. More testing with this before I can verify.

Honestly, I am not liking the simulator. I tend to be a nostalgic fool, so having the chance to experience what Dartmouth students did back in 1964 was breathtaking, but the simulator itself has various problems (or annoyances):

1. When I run it insists on positioning itself partly off screen. The simulator's title bar is off screen, so if I want to minimize or move the window I can't. I have to resort to Alt-Space, Move to accomplish this.

2. The simulator's window does not auto paint. If I have another window on top of it and move it the simulator's screen stays blank until I have focus on it and click inside the window.

3. The simulator insists on using anywhere from 80 to 95% of the CPU. This brings other apps to a crawl. I ended up closing the simulator so I could use other apps. In all fairness though, on my Intel quad core the CPU usage never went above 25%.

Ok, I tested. I started up the simulator and directly went ahead and typed in a small program (two lines, one of which was END) and it ran fine. No need to login or specify BASIC. :-)

Best regards, Salvador



-----Original Message-----
From: Kip Koon <computerdoc at sc.rr.com>
To: 'Salvador Garcia' <ssalvadorgarcia at netscape.net>
Sent: Mon, Aug 25, 2014 3:30 pm
Subject: RE: Re: [Coco] CoCoFEST - Dart Time Sharing System Contest


Hi Salvador!
After starting up the DTSS Simulator, you MUST type BASIC BEFORE doing
anything else.  If you have not already done so, there is a manual you might
want to read.  I read it awhile back and those 10 errors still get me from
time to time when I forget the proper login procedure.  By the way, there is
a login in procedure complete with a user number!  I don't exactly remember
what it is at the moment.  I'm in the middle of repairing some laptops, so I
can't look it up at the moment, by I will check it out later on.  I must
take care of business first!  :)  Keep trying though, you will get it. Once
that hurdle is conquered, then you can start having some fun with your
groundbreaking programs.  :D  By the way the first and foremost program
everyone MUST type in and run first is the famous
10 PRINT"HELLO WORLD!"
20 GOTO 10
30 END
Program!  :)  Have fun Salvador!

Kip Koon
computerdoc at sc.rr.com
http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Kip_Koon
http://computerpcdoc.com/


-----Original Message-----
From: Salvador Garcia [mailto:ssalvadorgarcia at netscape.net] 
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 1:36 PM
To: computerdoc at sc.rr.com
Subject: Re: Re: [Coco] CoCoFEST - Dart Time Sharing System Contest

I downloaded the simulator, but I can't get my program to run:

10 PRINT "HELLO"

When I run it it produces 10  errors indicating an illegal number in 0.

I then tried loading an existing program, bascos, and this loaded and ran
fine.

I typed in "new" and entered my next ground breaking program:

10 FOR I * 0 TO 9
20 PRINT I
30 NEXT I

The * is an equals sign. For some reason I can't get this symbol on my
present device.

I then run the program and get the same 10 errors.

I tried saving both programs and loading them into a text editor and this
works fine. I am not sure what I am not doing right.

Salvador