[Coco] Shell i=/t1& slowdown

[Gene Heskett]

On Thursday 06 September 2007, Willard Goosey wrote:
>>Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 17:26:26 -0600
>>From: "Chester A Patterson" <vchester at setec-cr.com>
>>
>>Boot NOS9-030206
>>Xmode /t1 9600-8-N-1 and all is well. Could send stuff to WinTerm (eg.
>>list startup >/t1)
>
>I'm amazed that works at all.  Shows just how much Boisy & crew have
>improved on OS-9.  With stock OS-9 that *might* *maybe* work at 300
>baud.
>
>>Then I did shell i=/t1& and got a nice terminal on WinTerm. BUT the Coco
>>slowed down horribly!
>
>As others have already said, the bit-banger port uses a lot of CPU
>time.
>
>>Suggestions?
>
>Get a real serial port?  If you can't scrounge up a serial pak,
>there's info floating around on how to install a daughterboard with a
>6551 on the CoCo's motherboard.
>
>If your main concern is file transfer, DriveWire may be the best way
>to go.  If you really want to use your CoCo from a terminal, you
>really do want a real serial port.  If you want to use your CoCo as a
>terminal, it sounds like you've pretty much got it.
>
>(And if you set up multiple serial ports, you can put a serial mouse
>on one of them.  The Hi-Res mouse adaptor is another bit of hardware
>that uses way too much CPU time.)

And the serial mouse is the single biggest improvement you can make to using a 
mouse on the coco.  All other mice, due to the a/d method, may, or more 
likely may not, hit the pixel you clicked on because the act of clicking 
screws with the voltages enough to cause a 1 or 2 pixel miss.  The serial 
mouse hits the pixel you click in 100.00000000000% of the time and makes icon 
editing fun instead of frustrating.  I used mine with a piggy-back 2 channel 
conversion in my rs-232 pack.  That mini aztec supply in it died a rather 
smoky death even before the conversion, so mine now gets all its power from 
the mpi.  No more hot 232 pack here.

As for the driver for the mouse, that was part of a cc3io conversion and I 
don't believe that code survived past about 1.17 of nitros9, a decade or 
longer ago.

Likewise the incorporation of the co80 code so a 2nd monitor could be used 
also seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Dennis Skala did that as 3 modules 
originally a very long time back up the log, and I merged the main code so 
only 2 extra descriptor modules were needed, but that code was excised also.

I used to have lots of fun impressing the visiting windows frogs with my dual 
monitor setup and other toys they didn't have. :)
>Willard



-- 
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)
Lunatic Asylum, n.:
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