[Coco] Ethernet update

[James Dessart]

On 26-Aug-04, at 8:47 AM, Mark Marlette wrote:

> Maybe I'm missing something.... If you only connected it to your 
> network and FTP'd to it then what is the purpose of connecting it to 
> the CoCo? I would think that you would need to make an ethernet 
> adapter and write the software to do what you did with your 
> laptop....Which is a HUGE task.
>
> Bit fuzzy on what you did and how that can be mirrored on the coco??? 
> Interface The PacketWhacker to the CoCo, you didn't interface the 
> PacketWhacker to the laptop???????

I made a page which might explain it a little better: 
http://skwirl.ca/coco/ethernet/

I interfaced the PacketWhacker to an 8-bit AVR, using a port of uIP (a 
TCP/IP stack designed for microcontrollers). To make it work on the 
CoCo, I'm going to port uIP to the CoCo, and use the PacketWhacker. So 
it's not as big a task as it seems, and software is my forte. When I 
get into a code writing mood, I can write a couple of thousand lines of 
mostly bug-free (C/C++) code in a day. Porting uIP wont take nearly 
that much code, since it's mostly all already done.

As is probably apparent by my setup, I've never been a professional in 
electronics, nor have I had any formal training in it. That's why I'm 
mostly going with hardware that is known, that works, and that has some 
drivers written for it already.

James