[Coco] CoCoNet status

[Fedor Steeman]

Great work, Roger! I am looking forward to trying it out!

2009/2/10 Roger Taylor <operator at coco3.com>

> At 05:45 PM 2/9/2009, you wrote:
>
>> Hey guys, CoCoNet just gained the auto-update feature!  It also has the
>> side effect of allowing Virtual Game Paks....
>>
>> Read on...
>>
>> The very top of the CoCoNet ROM has code that tries to replace itself with
>> an updated .rom file (on your PC).  If the .rom is not CoCoNet, it starts up
>> like a game pak.  So, CoCoNet is also a Live ROM Pak.  From your PC you tell
>> the CoCo what ROM to boot up with - CoCoNet, a game pak, utility pak,
>> embedded pak, etc.  Otherwise, the cartridge's EPROM already contains a
>> version of CoCoNet that continues to boot.
>>
>> This is over the bitbanger cable, and it's still very cool.  I can't wait
>> to see all this go wireless.
>>
>> Wireless virtual disks
>> Wireless ROM Paks
>> Wireless HTTP requests
>>
>
>
>
> Today I did more work and testing with the Live ROM Pak.  This is pure
> magic.  The CoCoNet Pak (both bitbanger and bluetooth) both will serve many
> purposes even as simple as the system is.  Technically the self-replacing
> ROM doesn't have to have anything other than the replacement routine, but
> that would require the PC to serve up either CoCoNet or a game, etc.
>  Instead, CoCoNet + the updater are on the EPROM in case nothing is served
> from the PC as an update or replacement ROM.
>
> All you see when you turn the CoCo on is a few seconds of delay while
> CoCoNet figures out if it can update itself with a game or another copy of
> CoCoNet, and then you get either the Disk BASIC 1.1 boot screen, or a game
> firing up.  It's practically transparent.  No need to mail out updated
> EPROMs.  The users can just download the latest client ROM and nothing has
> to be done from the CoCo at all.
>
> Now you can develop game paks or even DOSes from the Rainbow IDE (click
> Build, the .rom appears in your Files folder), turn on your CoCo and it
> automatically runs the ROM as if a ROM Pak is inserted.  This is live code
> testing at its best, or just a way to run hundreds of game paks without
> owning the real thing.  It's almost the same as an ROM/EPROM emulator.  The
> only thing I haven't tested yet is a wireless connection and that's because
> those boards aren't here yet.
>
> What I'm doing now is through a simple EPROM Pak and a bitbanger cable.
>  This is by far the most "amazifying" piece of software I've probably
> created yet, yet it's the simplest compared to my other systems.
>
> There's no hardware gadgets or tricks to any of this other than the ROM Pak
> containing a custom patched Disk BASIC 1.1 that can replace itself on
> powerup.  So far this only works on a CoCo 3.  In order to work on a CoCo 1
> or 2 it has to be 64K and I need to put the all-RAM routine in somewhere.
>  However, this will kill the 115200 bps mode since a CoCo 2 can't run at
> double speed while in all-RAM mode.  You'll still get 57600 bps which is
> actually pretty fast.
>
> What I propose now is that CoCoNet have Virtual Memory access by using the
> PC's resources yet again to give the CoCo more power.  If all of this can be
> possible from a cheap ROM Pak, why try to invent some huge expensive
> cartridge that nobody can afford?  Is software the solution?  It can be.  So
> far, I've ditched the floppy drives and ROM Paks, and when the bluetooth pak
> is done, there goes the idea of a needing an MPI for a Deluxe RS-232 Pak
> slot.
>
> I should really call this thing the Mystery Box and put no label on the
> cartridge.  Or perhaps, the All-in-One Pak.  :)
>
> A few copies of this little ROM Pak should be available by this weekend to
> the testers chosen to play around for a while before I release the final
> gizmo.  The programs I work on as demos will be, again... Live, to the
> testers who will just mount my updated floppy disk by pointing to a URL on
> the web.  The virtual disk is then accessible from their CoCo.
>
> Anything else I mention is probably giving too much secret and mystery
> away, so I'll get back to the drawing board and get this thing finished
> already.
>
> Roger Taylor
>
>
> --
> Roger Taylor
>
> http://www.wordofthedayonline.com
>
>
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