[Coco] Hidden 256-color mode

[Nickolas Marentes]

Mark Marlett wrote:
I have had several Emails with Dale. He contacted us through the Cloud-9
web site. He has no info on the GIME and his contact, which he wouldn't
name said that he had no info either. Here is Dale's Email at my last 
contact.
"Dale Chatham" <dale.chatham at 4dv.net 
<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco>>


Nick Replies:
Thanks Mark, every bit helps. I can send him an e-mail but before I do, 
when did you last "speak" to him? Did he see the copy of the official 
Tandy R&D document on my web site? If he was Director of Hardware 
Engineering, I would assume that he would have seen this document. 
Understandably, it was a long time and he may have forgotten. I guess he 
would have been involved with the Tandy 1000 range so it is possible 
that there are too many details for him to remember from so far back.

When I first came into contact with my "informant" from Tandy who told 
me about the 256 color mode, I was at first cautious about what he said. 
What had got me interested is the fact that John Kowalski had noted the 
possibility of such a mode by analyzing the GIME block diagram in the 
Tandy service manual BEFORE we even came into contact with this "informant".

What capped it off was when Mark Hawkins (ex Microware) gave me a copy 
of the Tandy R&D document, an official document that clearly shows that 
the mode was in the original design.

The big question is whether the mode was completely removed from 
production GIME's or merely "hidden" as my informant claims. This secret 
mode has really gotten my interest in the past few years and has almost 
become a personal quest to find it.  :)

Nickolas Marentes