[Coco] NitrOS-9 on a 128k Coco-3

[Gene Heskett]

On Wednesday 18 June 2014 23:12:36 Kandur did opine
And Gene did reply:
> Thanks Gene,
> I got the service manual and the jumper settings for that drive.
> I think, I found the speed select jumper.
> http://qdv.pw/coco/blog/2014/06/19/panasonic-ju-475-4-5-14-fd/
> First I couldn?t boot OS-9 from a 3.5" drive, because it's drive select
> was soldered to /d1, took it apart and managed to change it to /d0.
> http://qdv.pw/coco/blog/2014/06/19/changed-a-3-5-drives-drive-select-t
> o-d0-from-d1/
> 
> Heard, that you have a Coco running headless os-9 in the basement
> and access it from a terminal (program?) from upstairs.
> I used to have a similar setup with 4 VTUs connected to a Coco.
> Would you mind to give me some pointers on how to set this up please?
> 
> Kandur

Well,no, its not running headless, it boots to 4 windows normally. I am 
logged into it via a "shell i=/t2" in the startup.  Having the windows 
running too, its quite short of sysram even with a 2 meg kit in it.

I have a home made dual channel deluxe rs-232 pack, channel 2 is my serial 
mouse (you'll never go back to a shack mouse), the other feeds an FDTI 
serial-usb adapter, which in turn is plugged into a 7 port USB-2.1 hub, 
which itself is plugged into an expensive USB extension cable 10 meters 
long.  That come up to a USB port on this motherboard which is 
/dev/TTYSUB0 IIRC, and the coco starts a shell against /t2 in the startup, 
and a copy of minicom running here  talks to /dev/ttyUSB0.

There are limits to what I can do that way as its a purely text interface, 
and minicom doesn't understand the screen control esc codes that the 
patched tsedit/now vim, uses.

The 7 port hub also has my Brother HL-2140 B&W laser printer plugged into 
it, and its running the drivewire version of the /p drivers, so I can list 
a file to >/p, it comes up here and after drivewire captures it as ascii 
text, its handed off to the cups version of lpd, the text is rendered into 
a 600 dpi bitmap on this linux box by the drivers from Brother, then sent 
back down that same cable to the printer. Beautiful 600 dpi text, at 19 
pages a minute. None of this 9 pin pin pounder emulation that drivewire 
can do if you really want the 30 year old look.

ATM, my drivewire is dead, turns out I had a bogus entry in the xml file 
on this machine, which caused a feed back loop, and since its running on 
an old XT psu, the OEM 8 volts the bitbanger was used to seeing was 12 
volts +-.  Normal traffic was ok, but the feedback loop had it stuck at 
full speed and overheated something.

I've replaced the salt chip, but its deeper than that & may have already 
blown the next one so I am contemplating fabbing up a level translator 
that doesn't use the salt, but a real max232.  As I also have the 63C09 
and the disto 2 meg kit, the rest of it is buried under that kit & will 
need major disassembly to get to it.  I have another coco3, but its gime 
is the 1986  model, noisy, but I have considered swapping the GIME and 
seeing if drivewire now works.

But with my near death 3 weeks ago yesterday from a pulmonary embolism, 
(not a nice way to die I might add) the clot-buster shot worked and I'm 
still here, and actually feeling better than I have in several years 
despite the fact that my next birthday will be the 80th.

But that repair progress has halted.  I found my coco3 repair manual so 
perhaps that will get done in the heat of the summer, which so far has 
been considerable here in WV, so I'm hibernating in the air conditioning.

I've also gotten rid of about 50 lbs in the last 10 years, which is making 
life much easier for a badly abused back & that helps.

That and I have way too many hobbies, and am in the middle of putting ball 
screws in my micromill, about 10x more precise than the OEM versions.  So 
I keep as busy as I want to be.  Keeps me out of the bars don'cha know. 
;-).

[...]

Cheers, Gene Heskett
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
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-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>
US V Castleman, SCOTUS, Mar 2014 is grounds for Impeaching SCOTUS