[Coco] re OS-9 Floppy / Printer configuration?

[Frank Swygert]

Definitely set the drives up as 360K double sided drives. A double sided drive will still read a single sided, no problems there, even the old 35 track (160K) single sided disks.

Instead of messing around with OS-9 Level 1 I'd suggest you download a copy of Nitros-9. It's a continually upgraded version of OS-9 that a few members of the CoCo/Os-9 community developed years ago and have kept improving over the years. It will have all the utilities you need built in and works just like OS-9 -- you can use the OS-9 manuals/books and get 80% of the system. The other 20% are improvements that go beyond the original, like the DMODE command/utility. Everything that runs under OS-9 Level 1 and 2 will run under Nitros-9 (Technically "NitrOS-9" - OS-9 on nitrous if you will). 95% of what you read in any OS-9 book should work exactly the same. I'd say 100%, but there are a few things that work differently, though I don't know enough to say exactly what they are -- no "fresh" experience with Nitros or OS-9 (not in YEARS -- I just keep up with the list a bit out of nostalgia).

"Learning OS-9 on the CoCo 3" is probably the best book ever. I didn't write it, I edited and published the last version with permission from the original author. I don't know if a disk image is up yet but there is a copy on the CoCo-List archives and several other sources, as Aaron mentioned his site for one (Aaron, you can get a copy of the disk image if it's up on the list site and distribute that also).

Your problem may be in getting a disk. you have to download on a PC then copy to a floppy -- if you have a 5.25" drive on your PC. Some have problems when using a 1.2M 5.25" drive, but your 360K drives (set as 360K DD drives) SHOULD read the 1.2M disk, but DO NOT write to the 1.2M disk. Instead, the first thing after booting from one should be to make a backup to a 360K disk then use that, reuse the 1.2M floppy or put it up as a backup only with a note NOT to write to it from the CoCo.

If you don't have a 5.25" disk on a PC maybe someone here will be kind enough to make you a 360K Nitros disk and send it for a small fee...

On Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 11:04 PM, Chad H<chadbh74 at hotmail.com>  wrote:

>  Ok, I've only slightly tinkered with OS-9 slightly over the years. I
>  usually only load it because an application or game requires it. I'm trying
>  to learn a bit more about it so I can make better use of it.
>
>  How do I  configure OS-9 to take advantage of the other sides of the drives,
>  either as   /d2, /d3, etc. or by making /d0 and /d1 double-sided devices.
>
>  P.S. I have the original OS-9 level 1 rev. 1.0.0. ?Wish I could find a later
>  revision. ?I know the DeskMate diskette I have says level 1 rev. 2.0.0 but I
>  think it's missing a lot of the OS-9 files.


-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars"
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://www.amc-mag.com
(free download available!)