[Coco] RGB2VGA
Christopher Barnett Fox
cbfox01 at syr.edu
Wed Feb 4 12:55:49 EST 2015
I used a similar board, the Wei-Ya ACV-011-A, for an RGB2VGA converter for
CoCo3, and it has worked pretty well. The only odd thing is that the board
has no power switch, and it must be powered up after the CoCo is powered.
Otherwise, looks quite good. I haven’t finalized the cabling or put the
bare board in a project case yet, and yet I still don’t see much
interference. 32, 40, and 80 column text are all legible. Colors seem
pretty close to what I remember from 20 years ago with a CM-8. :-)
Honestly, I was happy to get something that made 80 column text readable!
Christopher
On 2015/02/04/, 12:11 PM, "Pere" <psergm at gmail.com> wrote:
>I saw this "out of the box" module
>
>http://www.jammaboards.com/store/cga-ega-rgb-to-vga-converter-pcb-for-bowl
>ing-centers-and-poker-machines-acv-012.html
>
>Could it be used with CoCo?
>It seems cheaper than the VGA board plus the Altera DE0-Nano board.
>
>pere
>
>
>
>-----Mensaje original-----
>From: coco-request at maltedmedia.com
>Sent: Monday, February 02, 2015 7:18 AM
>To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>Subject: Coco Digest, Vol 147, Issue 11
>
>Send Coco mailing list submissions to
>coco at maltedmedia.com
>
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>or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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>
>When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>than "Re: Contents of Coco digest..."
>
>
>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Coco disks (Stephen H. Fischer)
> 2. Re: [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM
> (Christopher R. Hawks)
> 3. Re: [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM (K. Pruitt)
> 4. Re: Coco disks (Stephen H. Fischer)
> 5. Re: [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM (Gene Heskett)
> 6. Re: Advice (Edward Snider)
> 7. Re: Advice (RETRO Innovations)
> 8. Re: tsmon / login (Richard E Crislip)
> 9. Re: Coco disks (Richard E Crislip)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 19:48:16 -0800
>From: "Stephen H. Fischer" <SFischer1 at Mindspring.com>
>To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco disks
>Message-ID: <1790B813451A40F0A3C9A973B0C4C4F2 at Trinity>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
>Hi,
>
>As I want to finish the Rainbow on Tape / Disk project as soon as
>possible
>(Way over due), when you get the time will you please check if you have
>any
>of the missing Rainbow on Tape / Disks. The early years (1982-1984) and
>the
>late years (1990-1993) are missing many months.
>
>No hurry about getting them to .dsk format, if there are none then I will
>finish up the project. Perhaps someone will loan you a Drivewire enabled
>ROM cart or a COCOSDC and MPI :) .
>
>http://home.mindspring.com/~sfischer13/
>
>That number of disks needs to be converted with help from others, some of
>the Rainbow Disks may require special methods as both sides are often
>used
>and some have both DECB and OS-9 parts on the same side. Other disks may
>have this mixture also. Many will have been done and are online already.
>
>TIA
>
>SHF
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bill" <cwgordon at carolina.rr.com>
>To: "Coco Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2015 7:02 PM
>Subject: [Coco] Coco disks
>
>
>>I was fortunate enough to purchase an entire Coco collection from a guy,
>>and
>> in addition to many books and a good bit of hardware, there are nearly
>> 2500
>> 5 ¼” disks, many of which are Rainbow on Disk.
>>
>>
>>
>> My question is this: How do I go about getting all these disks into a
>>.dsk
>> format so I can share them? I have several 5 ¼” disk drives, and (2)
>>512K
>> Coco3s. Going from actual disk is something I’ve never done, but I’ve
>> copied
>> several .dsk images to physical disks.
>>
>>
>>
>> And remember, my brain is not working as well as it used to, so make it
>> simple.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 2
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 22:26:17 -0600
>From: "Christopher R. Hawks" <chawks at dls.net>
>To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>Subject: Re: [Coco] [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM
>Message-ID: <20150201222617.18ee2e7b at HAWKSoft>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
>On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 21:04:27 -0600
>David Ladd <davidwladd at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I thought I would share something with everyone that I have been
>> tinkering with.
>>
>> Last night I was thinking about NitrOS-9 in ROM, but not the OS9Boot
>> file like the docs normally talk about. I was actually thinking of
>> putting the boot track for the given device into ROM.
>>
>> The first reason I thought about doing this is saving the 4608 bytes
>> that is normally locked out of a given volume used for the boot
>> track. So I figured if I put it into ROM I could gain back that
>> space. Plus this might make it a bit easier to just link LSN0 to a
>> specific boot file. Here is my test code thus far:
>> ------------------------------*bootrom.asm*
>> org $C000
>> START EQU *
>> fcc "DK"
>> lbra ENTRY
>> fill $FF,9*256
>> ENTRY EQU *
>> ldx #$2600
>> ldu #BOOTTRK
>> LOOP1 ldd ,u++
>> std ,x++
>> cmpu #BOOTEND
>> bne LOOP1
>> jmp $2602
>> BOOTTRK EQU *
>> use boottrack.asm
>> BOOTEND EQU *
>> RMSIZE EQU BOOTEND-START
>> fill $39,$2000-RMSIZE
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Now to create the boottrack.asm file I use the os9 tool from toolshed.
>> Example as follows:
>> os9 dump -a kernel_becker >boottrack.asm
>>
>> Then you just need to run lwasm on bootrom.asm and it will build the
>> ROM image of the boot track you selected.
>>
>> Now so far I have tested this with becker, CoCoSDC, EmuDisk, and IDE.
>> Becker, CoCoSDC, and EmuDisk work fine no problems. So far I
>> couldn't get IDE to work. I will have to examine the source code for
>> boot_ide.asm to see how it works more closely.
>>
>> Now the only problem I have ran into thus far is a easy way to update
>> the OS9Boot file on a pre-existing volume without writing a boot
>> track to the volume. So far os9gen and cobbler both require writing
>> a boot track to the volume.
>>
>> What I would like to know if anyone has run across a native
>> OS-9/NitrOS-9 utility that will link a file as being the OS9Boot file
>> to the information that would need to be set in LSN0?
>>
>> Thanks :D
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> +----------+
>> |David Ladd|
>> +----------+
>>
>
>os9gen -q=pathtobootfile
>
>
>
>Christopher R. Hawks
>HAWKSoft
>--
>Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart;
>Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
>Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
>So didst thou travel on life's common way,
>In cheerful godliness.
> -- London, 1802
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 3
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 20:41:15 -0800
>From: "K. Pruitt" <pruittk at roadrunner.com>
>To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Subject: Re: [Coco] [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM
>Message-ID: <02bc01d03ea2$8381f2a0$0300a8c0 at Desktop1>
>Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="UTF-8";
>reply-type=original
>
>>
>>
>> Christopher R. Hawks
>> HAWKSoft
>> --
>> Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart;
>> Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
>> Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
>> So didst thou travel on life's common way,
>> In cheerful godliness.
>> -- London, 1802
>>
>
>Wouldn't that go great as a voice over in a Harley commercial?
>
>Anyone? Just me, eh? Wordsworth and Milton rolling over in their graves?
>
>Great tagline, Christopher. Pretty awesome poem too.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 4
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 21:09:33 -0800
>From: "Stephen H. Fischer" <SFischer1 at Mindspring.com>
>To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco disks
>Message-ID: <D69C90979A264904B83D6503C3FFF6A0 at Trinity>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
>"Bill" <cwgordon-iK5jlJkdgf9Jm/Hvfsr4+Q at public.gmane.org> wrote in
>message
>news:003701d03e94$e06239c0$a126ad40$@carolina.rr.com...
>> By the way, I don’t have a PC with a 5 ¼” drive on it, so it’s gonna be
>> slow
>>
>
>Which begs the question do you have a computer that can run Drivewire to
>connect from your CoCo?
>
>Checking what type of OS you are using I found "Outlook" which suggests
>Windows which will run Java as well as many other OS's.
>
>Please correct me quickly if I am wrong and you will be given a Good
>Computing Seal of Approval from many people here.
>
>Allen Huffman's suggestion for you to use COCOSDC and a MPI also require
>that you have a computer that can read SDC cards. My last two laptops,
>Vista
>and W7 do and I also have a USB hub that does also.
>
>2500 is very large number of disks, I would suggest that you build three
>piles, Rainbow, Commercial Software and personal. Is there any sign of an
>master index for the last which is missing from a collection of 175 disks
>named 0000.dsk - 0174.dsk which has proved to contain only 1-2 Rainbow on
>Disk.
>
>The first step would be to number the disks with labels. The number of
>tracks and sides should be added as soon as known. DECB or OS-9 format or
>mixed.
>
>I used a color code to separate out DECB / OS-9 and the number of tracks
>and
>sides.
>
>A spreadsheet, database or just a text file to keep track is also needed.
>Commercial Software has a very large number of disks already converted,
>those and any damaged disks I suggest you put to the end. I know where
>most
>are stored.
>
>Because of the speed of Drivewire to a Windows computer, that would be my
>suggestion.
>
>You can load the CoCo part from a disk and select a NitrOS-9 boot disk
>with
>it also.
>
>SHF
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 5
>Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 00:10:02 -0500
>From: Gene Heskett <gheskett at wdtv.com>
>To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>Subject: Re: [Coco] [COCO] Putting NitrOS-9 boot track in ROM
>Message-ID: <201502020010.02772.gheskett at wdtv.com>
>Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset="windows-1256"
>
>On Sunday 01 February 2015 23:26:17 Christopher R. Hawks did opine
>And Gene did reply:
>> On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 21:04:27 -0600
>>
>> David Ladd <davidwladd at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hello everyone,
>> >
>> > I thought I would share something with everyone that I have been
>> > tinkering with.
>> >
>> > Last night I was thinking about NitrOS-9 in ROM, but not the OS9Boot
>> > file like the docs normally talk about. I was actually thinking of
>> > putting the boot track for the given device into ROM.
>> >
>> > The first reason I thought about doing this is saving the 4608 bytes
>> > that is normally locked out of a given volume used for the boot
>> > track. So I figured if I put it into ROM I could gain back that
>> > space. Plus this might make it a bit easier to just link LSN0 to a
>> > specific boot file. Here is my test code thus far:
>> > ------------------------------*bootrom.asm*
>> >
>> > org $C000
>> >
>> > START EQU *
>> >
>> > fcc "DK"
>> > lbra ENTRY
>> > fill $FF,9*256
>> >
>> > ENTRY EQU *
>> >
>> > ldx #$2600
>> > ldu #BOOTTRK
>> >
>> > LOOP1 ldd ,u++
>> >
>> > std ,x++
>> > cmpu #BOOTEND
>> > bne LOOP1
>> > jmp $2602
>> >
>> > BOOTTRK EQU *
>> >
>> > use boottrack.asm
>> >
>> > BOOTEND EQU *
>> > RMSIZE EQU BOOTEND-START
>> >
>> > fill $39,$2000-RMSIZE
>> >
>> > ​
>> > ------------------------------
>> > Now to create the boottrack.asm file I use the os9 tool from
>> > toolshed. Example as follows:
>> > os9 dump -a kernel_becker >boottrack.asm
>> >
>> > Then you just need to run lwasm on bootrom.asm and it will build the
>> > ROM image of the boot track you selected.
>> >
>> > Now so far I have tested this with becker, CoCoSDC, EmuDisk, and IDE.
>> > Becker, CoCoSDC, and EmuDisk work fine no problems. So far I
>> > couldn't get IDE to work. I will have to examine the source code for
>> > boot_ide.asm to see how it works more closely.
>> >
>> > Now the only problem I have ran into thus far is a easy way to update
>> > the OS9Boot file on a pre-existing volume without writing a boot
>> > track to the volume. So far os9gen and cobbler both require writing
>> > a boot track to the volume.
>> >
>> > What I would like to know if anyone has run across a native
>> > OS-9/NitrOS-9 utility that will link a file as being the OS9Boot file
>> > to the information that would need to be set in LSN0?
>> >
>> > Thanks :D
>
>This is precisely what my "bootlink" on my web site, does Chris.
>Basically the boot module you choose gets the address of the os9boot file
>from its hard drives LSN0.
>
>So it doesn't have to even live on the same hdbdos disk as the boottrack
>since that address in LSN0 can be anyplace on the drive, including plumb
>out of the os9 formatted portion of the drive. HDBDOS makes it piece of
>cake easy to have with its offset + vdisk allocation scheme.
>
>The syntax is "bootlink $82" or "bootlink 130" which is the decimal
>version of $82. Bootlink translates according to whether or not the first
>of the 3 chars is a dollar sign. It goes and gets the effective LSN0 of
>that hdbdos vdisk, seeks to the file and verifies that it is indeed a
>legit os9boot file, and if it is, does the math to dd.bt and dd.siz in the
>real lsn0, writes it into those 5 bytes, so the next time it boots or
>reboots, it will boot using the newly created os9boot file.
>
>I have not done it yet, but what you want to do can (maybe) also be done
>with the B&B utils "ba" and "bd" to clear those track 34 bits in that
>disks FAT. Hardly worth it since that only gains you 6144 bytes per
>vdisk. bd=Bit Deallocate. However, I do not know if these utils are
>multiple sector cluster aware. From what someone else said just this past
>week, the hint seems to indicate they are not.
>
>Anyway, take a gander at it as I believe it can do this job. Get it from
>my web page at the Genes-os9-stf link.
>> >
>> > ​
>> > ​
>> > +----------+
>> >
>> > |David Ladd|
>> >
>> > +----------+
>>
>> os9gen -q=pathtobootfile
>>
>>
>>
>> Christopher R. Hawks
>> HAWKSoft
>
>
>Cheers, Gene Heskett
>--
>"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
>soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
>-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
>Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>
>US V Castleman, SCOTUS, Mar 2014 is grounds for Impeaching SCOTUS
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 6
>Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 23:19:36 -0600
>From: Edward Snider <zippster278 at gmail.com>
>To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>Subject: Re: [Coco] Advice
>Message-ID:
><CAFxfvY-4iEWkwjNyMHx=6QfdnGjVEmp7E63bTgVpL9bAvdN_eA at mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>I built the 512k SIMM board, and it did not work for me. Also the layout
>was not the best,
>As it blocked the keyboard cable.
>
>You'll want to go over those schematics VERY carefully. He was serious
>when
>he said
>untested.
>
>I think someone (RETRO INNOVATIONS?) Is currently working on a mutipack.
>
>- Ed
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 7
>Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2015 23:35:34 -0600
>From: RETRO Innovations <go4retro at go4retro.com>
>To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>,
>camillus.b.58 at gmail.com
>Subject: Re: [Coco] Advice
>Message-ID: <54CF0CA6.5070603 at go4retro.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
>
>On 2/1/2015 8:27 PM, Camillus Blockx wrote:
>> Hi all coco geeks,
>>
>>
>>
>> Now Is any one familiar with the schematics and know if there is
>>copyright
>> on them, or if they are free to use?
>> Also did someone all ready build a MPI using those schematics?
>I looked at them, but the untested moniker needs to be considered.
>>
>> And if any one who wants to make a similar project, then maybe we can
>> share some thoughts and make it a joint venture?
>Well, I am happy to help, but I am just in the early stages of working
>on the design. For success sake, I was working on a 4 port unit first,
>and then seeing if the idea held merit to do more slots.
>
>I am replying to you, but I think there is some value in having the
>discussions in the public arena. The forums can be a goldmine of
>information for later folks.
>
>I am still gathering information, such as:
>
> * As noted in an earlier question from me, the difference between the
> units. Darren provided a nice piece of information
> * If addresses did not overlap, would there be utility in having
> multiple slots "on" at once for SCS or CTS (or both).
> o Because, I can see someone wanting a FDC, an HDC, a modem,
> Ethernet, and maybe a Speech cart on all at the same time.
> o Your "stack on" idea would be easier to implement with this in
> mind. Put all the carts in the address space at one time.
> * If so, how would it be best to enable this new feature without
> messing up the older apps.
>
>Jim
>
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 8
>Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 00:44:31 -0500
>From: Richard E Crislip <rcrislip at neo.rr.com>
>To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>Subject: Re: [Coco] tsmon / login
>Message-ID: <20150202004431.0a962820 at BunkerHill>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 20:26:02 -0600
>"Christopher R. Hawks" <chawks at dls.net> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 19:01:57 -0600
>> Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > > From what I see in /nitros9/level1/cmds/tsmon.asm it only
>> > > monitors one device. (Use the source Luke!)
>> >
>> > > You'll need to run it separately against each window...
>> > >
>> > > ex tsmon /term &
>> > > ex tsmon /w1 &
>> > > ex tsmon /w2 &
>> >
>> > Thanks, Chris!
>> >
>> > Ah, I see now. I saw the “help” and assumed it could use multiple
>> > pathlists. Good catch.
>> >
>> > Any idea how to make it not leave a Shell and SysGo hanging around?
>> > And why it uses so much memory?
>>
>> I would think that it's the windows using a lot of memory.
>> They use quite a bit, and their drivers too. Try inizing them 'by
>> hand' and check. Big fancy (graphic) windows use a lot of memory,
>> but, the descriptors have been changed so many times who knows what
>> they're set for. I just substitute my own.
>>
>> > Also, the ex won’t work more than once in a batch file, will it?
>> > Won’t the first one stop the shell and it becomes tsmon and then the
>> > rest won’t get executed?
>>
>> If so, just ex the last one.
>>
>> > It’s been too long!
>>
>> Amen! Wish I had time to play...
>>
>> > --
>> > Allen Huffman - PO Box 22031 - Clive IA 50325 - 515-999-0227
>> > (vmail/TXT only) Sub-Etha Software - http://www.subethasoftware.com
>> > - Established 1990! Sent from my MacBook.
>> >
>> > P.S. Since 4/15/14, I have earned OVER $600 in Amazon gift cards
>> > via Swagbucks! Use my link and I get credit:
>> > http://swagbucks.com/refer/allenhuffman
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Christopher R. Hawks
>> HAWKSoft
>
>Careful what you wish for Chris. You might find yourself in a
>wheelchair or unemployed.
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 9
>Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 00:50:49 -0500
>From: Richard E Crislip <rcrislip at neo.rr.com>
>To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco disks
>Message-ID: <20150202005049.27a756e3 at BunkerHill>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>On Sun, 1 Feb 2015 21:11:50 -0600
>Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> > On Feb 1, 2015, at 9:02 PM, Bill <cwgordon at carolina.rr.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > My question is this: How do I go about getting all these disks into
>> > a .dsk format so I can share them? I have several 5 ¼” disk drives,
>> > and (2) 512K Coco3s. Going from actual disk is something I’ve never
>> > done, but I’ve copied several .dsk images to physical disks.
>>
>> Use a COCOSDC interface ($40 assembled).
>>
>> MultiPak has Floppy Drive controller in one slot, CoCoSDC in another.
>>
>> Put in a formatted SD card in to the CoCoSDC, then boot up.
>>
>> Make Drive 0 be your real drive:
>>
>> DRIVE 0,OFF
>>
>> Create a disk image for the disk you want to copy:
>>
>> DRIVE 1,”GAMES1.DSK”,NEW
>>
>> Put real disk on drive 0 and back it up:
>>
>> BACKUP 0 TO 1
>>
>> Repeat hundreds of times.
>>
>> I had about 25 disks with errors, so I wrote a short basic program to
>> copy sector-by-sector to get as much data as possible. This is what I
>> have been doing the past few weeks.
>>
>> — Allen
>>
>
>How did you resolve the non-standard disk issue? I have many 40 track
>dual sided disk and 42 track dual sided disks. TIA
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Subject: Digest Footer
>
>_______________________________________________
>Coco mailing list
>Coco at maltedmedia.com
>https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>End of Coco Digest, Vol 147, Issue 11
>*************************************
>
>
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