[Coco] DriveWire is just a hobby (Was: DW4 on MAc & Linux)

[Gene Heskett]

On Thursday 26 September 2013 16:33:40 Al Hartman did opine:

> LOL!!
> 
> Gene, I use Linux Mint.
> 
> I'm talking THREE SEPARATE COMPUTERS.
> 
> One is my Dell Laptop running Windows 7. The other is the Windows Vista
> box I use as a Media PC, which is hooked up to my TV. I don't want to
> use my laptop as the DW server, because I don't want the wire running
> from my bed across the floor to the Coco. The third is the Coco 2 or 3
> setup on a snack table.
> 
> It is annoying to have to go back and forth between the AV2 input on my
> TV (Coco 3) nd the RGB input for my DW server on my TV remote. I wish
> this TV had Screen in screen. then I have three keyboards (laptop,
> wireless for Media-PC, and Coco 3) plus the mouse for the Media-PC.
> This is NOT an ideal setup.
> 
> Getting Drivewire 4 to work took a lot of going back and forth.
> Drivewire 3 server didn't work at all.
> 
> I am OS agnostic. I use Windows, Linux (since 1988 or so),

That would be a trick, since linus didn't announce it till 1991. :)  I've 
been using it since late 1998, red hat 5.0.

> Android,
> MacOS X, MacOS 9, TRS-DOS/NewDOS 80/MultiDOS, MS-DOS, AmigaOS, Atari-ST
> TOS, Apple ][ DOS and ProDOS, Coco DECB, whatever I need to do a
> task...
> 
> I'm not a beginning user.
> 
> > Did you try the script I published on this list, perhaps a week ago? 
> > Or were you one of the righteous type that gave me heck for doing it?
> 
> Since I'm not using Linux as a server, or OS9, I ignored any scripts.

It truly excels at server duties.  That script would have run flawlessly on 
it, as does Aarons drivewire.jar.
 
> I'm using Windows Vista as a server (remember the recent question/thread
> with that title?), and RS-DOS/HDB-DOS as the client.
> 
> And, I would never give a Linux guy heck about writing a script. The
> batch files I used to write for end users years ago were a lot of fun,
> and saved lots of time.
> 
> > Then I'd suggest you do learn os9/nitros9, because when you are comfy
> > with it, then the step to linux is both intuitive and natural.  Linux
> > throws in enough security if iptables is running, that you _can_ hook
> > it directly to your cable or fiber modem without worrying about the
> > machine being owned by
> > a black hatter in 15 minutes from the time you plug in the cat-5
> > cable.
> 
> I'll be going the other way, having some experience with Unix-like
> systems via my Linux experience, and MacOS X Server training.
> 
> But, I have a lot of reading about OS9 to do. And I need a better
> display for my Coco 3 than my 26 inch TV and Composite Cable. I see an
> RGB to VGA Monitor cable in my future.

And one of Roy's adaptors too I assume.

> > ...but there are times when if you want to know how it works,
> > you must be willing to learn how it works by asking the right
> > questions of the right people.
> 
> Right now, this list is all I have.

And the huge majority of us are here.
> 
> > A side effect of that is that when the answers have to
> > be repeated weekly, the message about poor docs gets said just as
> > plainly as the constant harping on it.  If in the process, you do
> > manage to create better docs, something I suspect you will do a good
> > job of, then I'd imagine edit perms will be gladly extended.
> 
> I hope to, once I create a workspace conducive to concentration and
> doing that kind of thing. Lying on my back in bed, or working from a
> snack table in my bedroom isn't going to work for me. I also need a
> grasp of the material in order to be able to document it for others.
> 
> I bought a small desk from Walmart
> (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Urban-Shop-Z-Shaped-Student-Desk-Silver/24216
> 266),

Thats a situp deal, not at all what I had in mind.

> I have a monitor stand the Coco will fit under, I bought several
> FD-501 drives that I will transplant a drive from to make one of them a
> 2 drive box.
> 
> I have a pair of Hitachi Chips coming in anticipation of using NitrOS9
> and learning it.
> I found my OS9 level One books and disks and some software for it.
> 
> I found my Botek Adapter and have a suitable printer to go with it.
> Though, I won't be able to use it with HDB-DOS and Drivewire at the
> same time.

I do, by swaping the /p.dd out for the drivewire version in the bootfile, 
anything I want to print gets sent to this box as a text file, which when 
its written, gets picked up, sent through the rendering facilities of cups, 
and back down the same usb extension cable to a usb hub on the coco's desk, 
and from there to a brother HL-2140 B&W laser printer, so my assembly 
listings get spit out at 19 pages a minute from a printer immediately above 
it.  Fastest by 20x, most readable text listings of the assemblers output I 
have ever had.  Those files are also available from my web page for anyone 
to use.

> I need to burn an HDB-DOS ROM for my J&M Controller. I just need to know
> which file to use, and how to get it to the correct memory area so I can
> burn it to an EPROM on my Coco. I'd like to burn one for the Coco 2, and
> another for the Coco 3.

I need a burner too, but I'm not about to put $1k+ into a zeltek.  One of 
Dennis GMM devices would work just fine for this.
> 
> All the Coco DECB manuals are cryptic on using the offset parameter of
> the LOADM command, and I have to figure out where the ROM file is set
> to load to, so I can calculate the offset and save it to tape for
> burning. I have an EPROM eraser coming in case I screw up. My old one
> has disappeared.
> 
> ADOS made it seem so easy... LOL!
> 
> I have forgotten a lot about the Coco in 20 years, but it is all coming
> back to me.
> 
> -[ Al ]-
> 
> 
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Cheers, Gene
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