[Coco] RS232 Schematics, was DriveWire survey

[CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts]

For a new piece of hardware for connectivity options, would it not be
useful to do it via USB?  In that fashion, with appropriate firmware, it
could facilitate access to a variety of devices (ethernet, wifi, bluetooth,
video, audio, joypads, memory/disks, etc) and adjust it's visibility to the
Coco (ports, address space, etc) accordingly (via software)?

Those of us without a multi-pak would appreciate a single cart with
multiple (future potential) options, in a single cart.

Wifi dongle plugged in - treat as serial (etc) to a Drivewire server, flash
memory - treat as FDC (like CocoSDC) and/or HDD (like the SuperIDE), USB
mouse - treat as a hires joystick adapter, video adapter - treat as a
WordPak+, audio adapter - treat as an Orch90...  upon startup, the
cartridge could (eventually) query the USB for device(s) and allow the
enduser to choose functionality of the device(s), or even allow for direct
access via user supplied additions to the firmware, onscreen, before
returning control to normally scheduled programming ;)

No fixed functionality, no jumpers, no conflicts (because it can be easily
changed)... it's all in one.

With a powerful enough micro-controller (AVR, ARM, etc), enough RAM and
microSD for firmware (have it easily replacable for ease of swapping, due
to finate number of flash re-writes and allows the enduser to add files for
new functionalities) and with full access to the Coco bus, we'd have a
great device.  USB devices like the Tweeny would even give small time
hackers the ability to design their own hardware.

Would this not provide some further "future proofing" as most(?) USB
devices will still "work" with USB 1?

I hope this was coherent enough :)  I wish it was something I could produce
- though it may need to be a collaboration...

Shain
On 2014-05-11 11:02 AM, "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <
coco at maltedmedia.com> wrote:

> On 5/11/2014 9:31 AM, CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts wrote:
>
>> I ran across this RS232 doc in my archives.
>>
> dloaded.  Thanks.
>
> A few more ?s
>
>  * Is there a list of what uses what registers for various
>    peripherals?  (Wondering if there is a spot for raw Wifi registers
>    that does not conflict with other stuff)
>  * Does anyone sell a hobbyist perfboard with a Coco edge connector on
>    it?  I can fab and run some, but it'd probably be faster to just buy
>    one or two from someone
>  * Was there much SW for the RS232 or modem paks?
>  * Does anyone sell molded cart cases for the Coco? (aka, if I need to
>    create a perfboard, it'd be best to make it fit a std case.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
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