[Coco] Raspberry Pi and RS-232 ports

[Camillus Blockx]

I have RPI 3 ,but I'm only on Sunday at the fest, do you want me to bring
it?
Cb


On Monday, April 10, 2017, Ron Klein <ron at kdomain.org> wrote:

> Hello all.
>
> How many folks here have Raspberry Pi 3's? I plan to bring a handful of
> 16GB SD cards to CocoFEST next week with a preliminary Coco emulation
> distribution it (see below). For those who can't attend, I'm looking for a
> place to host an image file. I still need to type up some documentation,
> but plan to demo it at the show.
>
> Thanks
>
> -Ron
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 11:30 AM, Ron Klein <ron at kdomain.org <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
>
> > I've been working on getting an initial Raspberry Pi 3 Coco emulator
> > distribution set up for those who might be interested to try for
> > themselves.  It's being set up the why I like it, but could certainly be
> > taken in any direction from the community as I plan to share an SD image
> > soon.
> >
> > This is what I have so far:
> >
> > Raspberry Pi 3
> >
> > Latest Raspbian distribution
> >
> > Some RPi3 performance tweaks to allocate memory for programs and video.
> >
> > Restrict video mode to 640 x 480 (rather than the 1920 x 1080).
> >
> > A very slight CPU over clock and force all cores to be active all the
> > time.
> >
> > Latest MAME (0.184) compiled with SDL2 (and video hardware acceleration).
> > It runs from the console, no X involved.  I'm working on just compiling a
> > version to support only the Coco / Dragon targets, but not a priority
> just
> > yet.  For those interested, ChoccyHobNob provides precompiled, current
> > versions of MAME for the RPi3:
> >
> > http://choccyhobnob.com/mame-0-184-for-raspberry-pi-macos/
> >
> > ... great site and information.
> >
> > Latest XRoar for those who prefer that emulator for Coco 2 / Dragon
> > emulation.  It can be run from console or X, though the X version is very
> > nice with the added benefit of menus, etc..
> >
> > Drivewire 4 configured to host/serve DSK images to the local instance of
> > MAME (or XRoar) running on the RPi3.  If you use a USB to serial adapter
> or
> > one of the serial interfaces to connect to the GPIO header, you can host
> > files for a real Coco as well.
> >
> > Some scripts to start a Coco 2, Coco 3, MC-10 from MAME.  For the Coco 3,
> > I have it configured with 2MB of RAM.  Great for NitrOS9 and Fuzix.  Any
> of
> > these could be added to the /etc/rc.local file to boot directly into.
> >
> > I've also added am EMCEE server to host files for a real MC-10.
> >
> > Samba server and client packages.  You can transfer and DSK images, roms,
> > etc., to the RPi3 from another workstation on your network or you can
> > connect to other file server on your network from the RPi3.  Either way
> > works and is available.
> >
> > Added a bunch of Coco development tools the distribution including
> > everything needed to compile MAME and XRoar, lwtools, Toolshed, etc..
> >
> > Added William Astle's excellent lwwire application (with modifications
> > from Brett) to allow Fuzix (running on a Coco 3) access to the Internet.
> > This can include an emulator running on the RPi3 or a real Coco 3
> connected
> > to the RPi3 through the USB or GPIO serial port.
> >
> > I connect my RPi3 to a LCD monitor that happens to have both a HDMI and
> > VGA connections.  I have not tested the RPi3's composite video output on
> > the GPIO header, but will get to that at some point.
> >
> > I use a basic USB mouse and keyboard.  I came across a great deal on a
> > Nintendo Wii U Pro Controller which works perfectly with the RPi3 as it
> > already has built-in Bluetooth support.  Raspbian recognized the device
> > with no issues.  I was playing Pop Star Pilot just yesterday using it.
> > Very nice.  Nice thing is that controller has analog and digital control
> > support.  Perfect the Coco!
> >
> > I know there's been much talk about booting into a Coco instantly at
> > power-up.  I have not attempted to do that, but the boot process is very
> > quick now (under 15 seconds).  I'm OK with that, but I'm sure there may
> be
> > other things to do to improve it more.  Unless you create an emulator
> that
> > doesn't require the Linux OS and talks directly to the hardware, not sure
> > if there will ever be a way to achieve instant-on access to a Coco.
> >
> > The last part of my RPi3 testing is connecting a real Coco 3 keyboard to
> > the RPi3.  I'm using information provided by Chris Hawks who really
> > pioneered the early Coco emulation for the RPi.  I have the extra
> keyboard
> > and Coco 3 case, so I may be able to build my own CocoPi, just like Chris
> > did a while back.  With things like the USB to Coco joystick adapters, it
> > might even be possible to use real Coco joysticks with the RPi while it's
> > in a Coco case (using the factory holes on the case).  The RPi3 composite
> > video and analog audio port could be run to the factory location on the
> > case, too.  These types of things would require some sort of basic
> > backplane to mount the 6 pin joystick DIN connectors and the composite
> > video and audio connectors.
> >
> > Anyway, getting a bit closer each day.  I would like to share something
> > soon, but need to find a way to limit the size the SD card image and
> find a
> > place to host it.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > -Ron
> >
> >
>
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