[Coco] newb: Can I use DriveWire with my CoCo 2?

[Chad H]

RS-DOS was the rudementry DOS included in the Disk Controller PAKS that
supplemented the machine's internal BASIC ROM's, without replacing them.

OS-9 was a whole new OS that was loaded from floppy disk and gave access to
the full 64K (*64k is required actually) on CoCo 1's & 2's.  OS-9 Level 2
came later with more enhancements specifically for the CoCo 3 and will not
run on a CoCo 2.

I'm not really sure of the best way to tell you to identify which format a
disk is in, short of just 'knowing' if it's a OS-9 game/app or not, or
looking it up.  Otherwise, attempt a DIR and see if you get garbage.  If so,
it's probably the other kind of disk.

Also, there are MS-DOS utilities that can create, manage or extract .DSK
images and contents that might help you along the way.  Might want to look
for these for the PC:  DSKINI, RETRIEVE, OS9.  I know they are included with
several emulators out there.

Aaron and Bill are stepping up the DriveWire game to help us out :)



-----Original Message-----
From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Chris Osborn
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2013 11:26 PM
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [Coco] newb: Can I use DriveWire with my CoCo 2?

On Sep 21, 2013, at 8:17 PM, Chad H wrote:

> If you are using the ROM's DIR command, you WILL get garbage reading 
> that disk, since it is a OS-9 diskette and not RS-DOS format which the 
> ROM is expecting.  Try reading a RS-DOS formatted .DSK image.  Or 
> DSKINI one (format).  I did see where Aaron had "NOS9" .DSK images on 
> the DriveWire 4 site that should be of use to you in order to read the
BASIC09 disk.
> Nitro-OS9 is the more 'modern' version of OS9 and if you load that DOS 
> from the .DSK image AFTER executing the ROM....you should be in 
> Nitro-OS9 with DriveWire support.  Then you can read that disk and run
BASIC09.

How do I know that I have an RS-DOS disk image? Remember, I'm a newb. I have
no idea what all these different operating systems are, how they work, or
how to tell one disk from another. This is only my second TRS-80 and I've
only had it working for a couple of weeks. (My first TRS-80 is a model 100
which I've had only a couple of months.)

> Aaron just stated that the DriveWire 3 ROM should support the 
> DriveWire 4 server package.  If we rule this out, and your cable is 
> good, then the mostly likely culprit ends up being the most obvious...

Cable is definitely good, I was able to make myself a little hack and send
this image over using COMM4. :-)

http://pic.twitter.com/dgobP11316

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