[Coco] DS1216 Smart Watch chip and the CoCo

[Rogelio Perea]

Been using the DS1216 chip on my CoCo 3 setup for years installed in the
disk controller.

For OS9 (stock L2) use I got a couple of utilities from CompuServe called
SWSET4 and GETCLK4 which work to set and read the DS1216 when installed on
the disk controller, usually set on slot 4 of the MPI. The docs for those
utilities stated to use the suffixed "4" utility variants even if the dik
controller is attached directly to the CoCo with no MPI in between - there
were I recall a SWSET3 and GETCLK3 for use when the DS1216 was set on other
slots of the MPI.

Modern day scenario: using the CoCo SDC I would like to have access to the
DS1216 from there, I assume I could mount the Smart Watch chip within the
CoCo under the ROM and have it read from there and not depend on the disk
controller being attached... is this a doable scenario?

--

As a side note, the DS1216 chip I installed on my FD-502 controller is
still working after decades of use, still keeping time... I expected the
battery to die by the turn of the 21st Century first decade but it still
works. Bought a few spares a year ago or so just for the time when it
actually kicks the bucket.


-- RP