[Coco] Raspberry Pi and RS-232 ports
Ron Klein
ron at kdomain.org
Mon Apr 10 19:42:28 EDT 2017
Hi Lee,
Bill Loguidice and Rick Adams were also nice enough to offer hosting space
for the image. I don't have any issues with multiple folks hosting it, so
I'll make sure to contact you as well once I get the image created and
compressed.
Thank you!
-Ron
On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 6:33 PM, Lee Patterson <lee at 8bitcoder.com> wrote:
> If you are still looking for a place, my 8BitCoder.com would love to have
> it.
>
> Lee
>
>
>
> On 4/10/17, 4:38 PM, "Coco on behalf of Ron Klein" <
> coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com on behalf of 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> 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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