[Coco] Re: [Color Computer] Really need OS-9 help

[Gene Heskett]

On Wednesday 24 March 2004 08:22, chazbeenhad wrote:
>Thank you. I will give that a try. You see, I wrote notes in my OS9
>manual about the commands I had replaced the stock commands with. On
>the bottom of the page for the copy command I wrote : copy *.* -
>w=destination. All these years later I assumed that the : was just
>the OS9 prompt. Opps.... but I'll see tonight when I give it a try.
>Thanks again.
>
>I had a bunch of other troubles last night. I installed a 5.25
> floppy in my PC so I can use it to get data over to the coco. I
> tried an emulator with the DSKINI command and it just wasn't
> working. I also tried the pc program OS9 to write to OS9 disks on
> the PC. That didnt work either. Maybe its Windows XP .... I know
> these programs were written for dos. All this will be my next HELP
> post if I can't figure something out. :-)
>
>Charlie
>
First, please don't top post.  Either mix it into the original so the 
context stays readable, or put the reply after, so things are in 
chronological order.

I had similar troubles here in linux, the 256 byte, 18 sector per 
track format os9 uses wasn't readily available, and I blamed it on 
the floppy controller on this Biostar M7VIB mobo.  But some research 
on the SuperIO chip showed it could format any disk you could dream 
up, using any power of 2 sector length. 

So I recompiled the floppy.c driver in the kernel so it knew about 
that.  I also think I could have gotten around it by editing the list 
of media formats that linux keeps buried in its /etc directory.  

Lemme see if I can find that puppy.

Bah humbug!  Bad memory. (mine!) Wrong place, its "mediaprm" and its 
in /usr/local/etc of this machine bearing only a moderate similarity 
to a Red Hat 8.0 install.

I appended this to the bottom of the file to supplant the types 
already listed, and I believe it still works here even after 
switching to a newer kernel and losing my compiled in database in 
floppy.c.  I'm always running a pretty new kernel, this ones 
2.6.5-rc2.

---clip from /usr/local/etc/mediaprm---

# Color computer, sides 1 and 2
"COCO1":
 SS DD sect=18 cyl=35 ssize=256

"COCO2":
 SS DD sect=18 cyl=35 ssize=256

# TRS-80 Color Computer OS9 formats(to be confirmed)

"COCO360":
 DS DD sect=18 cyl=40 ssize=256 tpi=48

"COCO720":
 DS DD sect=18 cyl=80 ssize=256 tpi=96

"COCO3.5DD":
 DS DD sect=18 cyl=40 ssize=256 tpi=135

"COCO3.5HD":
 DS DD sect=18 cyl=80 ssize=256 tpi=135

---end of clip

ISTR the syntax to force this files defines to be used is to 
"format /dev/fd0 COCO360" or some such, its been a while.  But this 
is for linux so check the man pages for the final authority on the 
syntax.

This file seems to need a blank line between definitions so be aware 
of that when adding this clip to that file.  Thats if you are running 
linux.  I've never fooled with windows, any variety, here at home. I 
went from OS9 to AmigaDos, to linux, and have never been tempted to 
"downgrade" to windows.

Humm, to let you get your feet wet without drowning anything, do a 
google search for "knoppix".  Download it, burn it as an ISO image to 
a cd, and it becomes a self booting linux that runs entirely from the 
cd without touching your windows install.

Who knows, you might like it.  All these viri that are being shoved 
into your inbox by the dozens on a typical day?  Linux is immune to 
them, just single click to hilight, and hit the d key, voila! gone.

Don't like all those popup adds that IE enrages you with?  Use mozilla 
instead, it doesn't honor them if thats how you set it.  I could go 
on, but you get the idea.

>--- In ColorComputer at yahoogroups.com, Gene Heskett
>
><gene.heskett at v...> wrote:
>> On Tuesday 23 March 2004 23:38, chazbeenhad wrote:
>> > For some reason my OS-9 isn't letting me use wildcards.
>> >I'm using Shell+ 2.1. The copy command I'm trying to use even
>> > says it supports wild cards under Shell+ , but I get nothing.
>> >
>> > copy *.* -w=/h0/temp2 gives me Error 215 - Bad Path Name Can't
>
>Copy
>
>> >*.*
>>
>> Humm, its been a while, but ISTR that you had to turn it on by
>
>putting
>
>> a colon in front of the command, like this maybe?
>>
>> :copy *.* -w=/h0/temp2
>>
>> Note however that a full directory will expand beyond the cli
>
>buffer
>
>> that shell uses, with "unpredictable results".
>>
>> >Anyone have any ideas??
>> >
>> >Charlie
>> >

[snip commercials etc]

-- 
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
99.22% setiathome rank, not too shabby for a WV hillbilly
Yahoo.com attornies please note, additions to this message
by Gene Heskett are:
Copyright 2004 by Maurice Eugene Heskett, all rights reserved.


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