[Coco] CoCoNet status

[Mark Marlette]

Roger,

We need to get you out more....."amazifying" ?????

:)

Mark
Cloud-9


At 2/9/2009 11:43 PM, you wrote:
>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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