[Coco] NitrOS9 with Deluxe RS232 Pak

[Gene Heskett]

On Wednesday 17 June 2015 20:32:57 Ron wrote:
> Hi Gene,
>
> I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my numerous questions and
> comments.  What you've said makes sense.  It looks like I have a lot
> more to learn (i.e. tboot command, /t2 parameter changing and saving,
> creating new bootfiles, etc.).
>
> I'm still looking for a good sources of documentation (beyond the
> nitros9.org website).  Is OS9 documentation still relevant when using
> NitrOS9?

Quite a bit of it is.  Occasionally we'll figure out a better way.  The 
dsave is one command that has had a syntax change, and tmode/xmode are 
all built from the same src file, so the operative syntax diffs have 
disappeared.  XMode/DMode have been dressed up a bit, and both can now 
work on disk files by prefacing the pathname with a leading - sign.

Some of us have written replacements for existing utilities but with more 
bell & whistles.  I wrote a ramdisk quite a few years back that can be 
made operational for a compile, and then return every byte back to the 
system when its no longer needed.  Doesn't need an initial format before 
use as it actually does it in the few milliseconds delay you see if you 
do a dir /r0, as it detects the command, and holds it until it can show 
you the empty directory.  Access speed is essentially the same as a good 
scsi circuit, essentially the speed the cpu can move the data, 11 
seconds for a megaread on a 63x09 equipt machine, 13 or so for a 68x09.

Other folks are encouraged to blow their own horns when the opportunity 
presents itself.

You will want to get acquainted with drivewire at some point, so get 
ready for the loss of the use of /t1, drivewire uses it, at speeds up to 
110 kilobaud to access files on your pc that are disk storage to the 
coco.  Faster than a real floppy!

The future is bright, so you may want to wear shades. :)

> Thanks again!
>
> -Ron
>
> On 6/17/2015 5:20 PM, Gene Heskett wrote:
> > On Wednesday 17 June 2015 17:04:34 Ron wrote:
> >> Hello everyone,
> >>
> >> I'm just just getting started with NitrOS9, but being familiar with
> >> Linux has help considerably to navigate around the OS.
> >>
> >> I have a Coco 3 with a MultiPak.  Slot 4 has an SDC controller and
> >> I've mounted the NitrOS9 SDC version
> >> (nos96809l2v030300coco3_cocosdc.dsk
> >> <http://www.nitros9.org/latest/nos96809l2v030300coco3_cocosdc.dsk>)
> >>. Slot 1 has a Deluxe RS232 Pak.  I've connected this pak to my PC
> >> with a NULL modem cable.  RS232 pak seems to work fine with my PC
> >> (tested it at 9600 baud) using the RS built-in term program from
> >> DECB.
> >>
> >> I am, however, unable to connect to the Coco (running NitrOS9) from
> >> my PC.  Information is a bit spotty online, so I apologize in
> >> advance if this is well documented and I just missed it.
> >>
> >> I run the following command to initiate a shell:
> >>
> >> shell i=/t2&
> >
> > This is correct.
> >
> >> I believe this telling NitrOS9 to use the Deluxe RS232 Pak and not
> >> the bit-banger port.  I'm unfamiliar with how to verify the proper
> >> driver is being loaded for /t2 and unable to get the correct syntax
> >> for the xmode command to verify what the default term settings are.
> >> I'm also thinking there may be a way to communicate faster than
> >> 9600 baud using the Deluxe RS232 Pak (from within NitrOS9) as well.
> >
> > There is, but in the long run when the coco is on the receiving end
> > of that data, it cannot go faster than about 5500 baud if overruns
> > are to be avoided.  Particularly if using an error correcting
> > transfer protocol such as rzsz.
> >
> >> I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed by the power of the Coco
> >> running NitrOS9.  It was so far ahead of it's time.
> >
> > There is also a time limit that I have not discovered the cause of,
> > that says if I don't start, or have already running, a copy of
> > minicom, there comes a time when the /t2 port is no longer
> > responsive to the incoming login from minicom.  10 minutes late, and
> > the coco will need rebooted.
> >
> > As for the xmode command bear in mind it only works on an unopened
> > path, so for playing with /t2's params live, you use tmode .0 or .1,
> > or even .2, where 0 is stdin, 1 is stdout, and 2 is stderr. 
> > Permanent changes to /t2.dd need to be done using xmode, and then
> > generating a new bootfile useing the modified /t2.dd.  Or you can
> > transfer the changes to the in memory copy, and then save it for use
> > in a new bootfile. We actually have several methods of skinning that
> > cat. ;-)
> >
> >> Thank you!
> >>
> >> -Ron
> >
> > Cheers, Gene Heskett

Cheers, Gene Heskett
-- 
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 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>