[Coco] CoCo Model 1 Cartridge Port

Charles Hudson charles484 at twc.com
Fri Dec 24 06:40:06 EST 2021


Yesterday I connected the controller to the CoCo and to the TCDD, 
following the procedure illustrated in the Tandy CCDS documentation.  In 
specific, the ribbon cable's red stripe toward the rear of the machine, 
using the non-keyed end of the cable, and the keyed middle connector to 
the drive.  I issued the command "dskini0" to format a disk and the 
motor turned, but no red light showed on the drive and after a few 
seconds a message indicating an I/O error appeared on the screen.

Looking at the error message list in the documentation three remedies 
are listed: make sure the disk is inserted properly, try another disk (I 
did both) , and call the Radio Shack Repair Center.  Not sure how to 
accomplish that one.  But I will take the drive apart and see if there 
is anything obviously wrong.  It occurs to me, however, that the fault 
may be with the controller or the cable.

Does anyone have experience with this issue?  I'd appreciate some guidance.

Thanks,

-CH-

On 12/23/2021 3:15 PM, Arthur Flexser wrote:
> No, Disk Basic 1.1 resides exclusively in the Disk Controller's ROM.  You
> must have Extended Basic to use any Disk Basic version, though.
>
> Art
>
> On Thu, Dec 23, 2021 at 8:40 AM Michael Miller <mvmiller12 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I may be wrong here, but my understanding is that you need to update the
>> ROMs in the actual computer to get DECB 1.1. The Disk Controller ROM just
>> "expands" by adding a handful of commands.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Coco <coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com> On Behalf Of Charles Hudson
>> Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2021 7:12 AM
>> To: coco at maltedmedia.com
>> Subject: [Coco] CoCo Model 1 Cartridge Port
>>
>> On to the cartridge port, which seems workable.
>>
>> Verified that the Deluxe RS-232 Program Pak (Cat. 26-2226) can be invoked
>> with "Exec &HC000"; I/O TBD.  Got modems and cables, need to find / create
>> a driver.
>>
>> Also verified same for Disk Controller (Cat. 26-3022) which boots up with
>> the message "Disk Extended Color Basic 1.0".  I have the disk cable, a
>> drive and blank disks but no software.  End-to-end communication yet
>> unproven.
>>
>> I think there are later ROM versions used with (some version of) the disk
>> controller; can they be used in this cart?
>>
>> -CH-
>>
>>
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