[Coco] Sdc copy, and multi pak upgrade question

[Eddie P.]

I checked mine with instructions from the Cloud9 website (quoted below). I ordered the upgrade from them and it takes no more than 5 mins to upgrade.
...and yeah, I hear you about Coco 3s not being too common in Aust these days. Took me a while to get my setup!
Eddie P."Here's a simple test that will determine if your Mulit-Pak has already been upgraded to work with a CoCo 3.
>From BASIC's OK prompt, type PRINT PEEK(&HFF90) and press ENTER. If 126 is returned then the Multi-Pak has
been upgraded. If it returns 255 then it has NOT been upgraded."> From: scotto18 at gmail.com
> Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 09:55:42 +1100
> To: coco at maltedmedia.com
> Subject: [Coco]  Sdc copy, and multi pak upgrade question
> 
> I have finally joined the esteemed club of CoCo3 owners (they don't seem
> too common here in Australia, judging by what is visible on ebay).
> 
> I got it with an 26-3124 MPI (also a first for me).
> 
> My question is, if I open it up, how do I tell if it has had the necessary
> CoCo3 modification made, Tandy-sourced or otherwise?
> 
> Is there any documentation on the Tandy modification?
> 
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Scott
> 
> 
> Date: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:57:30 -0700
> From: abqpenmaster <abqpenmaster at gmail.com>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Sdc copy, and multi pak upgrade question
> Message-ID: <gj2fji9q76xv3mmocj5riowj.1417496250640 at email.android.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
> 
> Thanks Gene, I'll get that done.
> Sean
> 
> 
> Albuquerque,  NM USA
> 
> <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Gene Heskett <
> gheskett at wdtv.com> </div><div>Date:12/01/2014  8:28 PM  (GMT-07:00)
> </div><div>To: coco at maltedmedia.com </div><div>Subject: Re: [Coco] Sdc
> copy, and multi pak upgrade question </div><div>
> </div>On Monday 01 December 2014 11:09:46 seanruss08 . did opine
> And Gene did reply:
> > I got a shiny new sdc, thanks Darren & Ed.  Question though:
> >
> > I have been able to use the drivewire to copy programs from pc to coco
> > floppy with the sdc card in my multi-pak,   but is there a command to
> > copy from PC to the sd card through drivewire?  Like copy this to
> > that,  or similar command? I have not been able to this far.   Or does
> > everyone just use the PC to setup the files on the card?  Also,  ok to
> > setup files/directories on pc?
> >
> > I ask because right now the only card reader is on my printer and it is
> > adamant that I am not allowed to write to an sd card. I have a better
> > card reader on order.
> >
> > Also,  right now I am using a stock multi-pak (26-3124) that has not
> > been upgraded.  I bought it off ebay. I took the cover off and it's
> > not upgraded.  It seems to work great though with my Coco3 haven't
> > seen any problems,   should I have it upgraded anyways?
> > Thanks,  Sean R.
> 
> Absolutely.  It shares its slot switching via a poorly decoded chip select
> ghost that means a white to $FF7F to change the slot, will crash nitros9
> by mapping out the normal $3F used for the top 8k of ram as it will write
> to $FF9F which is in the multipak.  Conversely, a write to the gime chip
> will muck with the slot or irq transmission ability's of the multipak.
> 
> Mark at cloud9tech.com has kits for both or all 3 versions of the
> multipak.  Or he can install them for a nominal fee if you send him the
> multipak.
> 
> But part of that danger will go away forever if you tie all the slot
> sockets together at each sockets pin 8, which will bypass the slot logic
> and allow an IRQ from any slot to reach the 6x09 in a fraction of a
> microsecond.  That means no more missed interrupts from the serial port,
> losing characters when online thru it.  But, that will load down the per
> pin IRQ pullups by making what ever is pulling that line down to assert
> the interrupt work 4x harder because when the bridging wire is in place,
> it has to pull down all 4 of those resistors. Put a meter on one of the
> pin 8's and check the resistors along the front edge of the board, and cut
> the first 3 that you find have only an ohm or 3 from pin 8, loose on one
> end.  The 4th one you find and leave alone is plenty of pullup to maintain
> the logic 1 when no interrupts have been asserted.
> 
> This is actually 2 independent problems, but you might as well do them
> both while the covers are off.  I fixed mine about 28 years ago.
> 
> Cheers, Gene Heskett
> --
> 
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