[Coco] Multi-Processor 6809 Computer System

[L. Curtis Boyle]

Actually, the OS-9 Display code method would be helpful here. The driver would only need to send escape code sequences to the co-processor "mailbox", and the driver there would actually do the drawing (and there is no reason one could not extend the display codes to do other things, like when we added filled ellipse and filled circle to the OS-9 Level II upgrade and NitrOS9). This was (one of) the plan(s) with the Tomcat with a 68008 board - you could run the 6809 as the main processor (for backwards compatibility with existing OS-9 Level II), but it could pass the the display code sequences to the 68008 to do the actual drawing, scrolling,etc.

L. Curtis Boyle
curtisboyle at sasktel.net



On May 1, 2013, at 2:21 PM, tonym wrote:

> 
>> ---- Original Message ----
>> From: "James Jones" <jejones3141 at gmail.com>
>> Sent: 5/1/2013 12:22:36 PM
>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Multi-Processor 6809 Computer System
>> 
>> Speaking of graphics coprocessors and memory footprints: the solution would
>> be to get the 6[38]09 out of the business of doing graphics at such a low
>> level. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ManaGeR, which discusses the MGR
>> graphics system. (If you had a, oh, gee, what was it called, the AT306, or
>> MM1/b? You'll recall that Carl Kreider had it going, and the Wikipedia page
> 
> 
>> refers to a fellow named Carsten Emde and  an article he wrote about MGR
>> and OS-9. The link is broken, darn it.)
>> 
>> 
> 
> archive.org is your friend:
> 
> http://web.archive.org/web/20051028133428/http://vita.com/jun96vj/altos9.html
> 
> Another cached copy at:
> 
> http://sau.homeip.net/cache/mgr-vme.html
> 
> 
> 
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