[Coco] PCs pretending to be drive boxes wasRe: Drivewire question

[Willard Goosey]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 09:00:07AM -0400, John W. Linville wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 02:37:46AM -0600, Willard Goosey wrote:
> > Many retro systems have drivewire-like things.  
> > 
> > Four off the top of my head:  FLEX, Coleco ADAM, C64, and HP 9845.
> 
> The Atari 8-bit as well.  Though in the case of the Atari and the C64
> I think there is some hardware involved so that the server/hardware
> combination pretends to be one of their "intelligent" floppy disks.

For the C64, it depends on the PC, since it gets bit-banged out the
parallel port.  If you have a fancy modern port and a multitasking OS,
the cable does need a chip or two.  For a funky old AT-class 486, it's
just straight wiring.

For the HP machines, the "server" has to have an IEEE-488 card.  Which
isn't exactly standard issue. ;-)

I know nothing about Atari 8-bits.  

-- 
Willard Goosey  goosey at sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
I search my heart and find Cimmeria, land of Darkness and the Night.
  -- R.E. Howard